Hear a few self-improvement experts, making it simple to convince yourself that dozing is a superpower: not just a sticking plaster after poor sleep, but a path to improved recall, better spirits and possibly improved athletic performance. Elite athletes do it regularly – along with musicians, mixed martial artists and business leaders. But if you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or employment that allows frequent naps, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the hassle? Can you find a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling better, instead of groggy?
Identifying Your Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three primary motivations for taking a nap in the adult population,” explains a professor of circadian rhythm researcher. “Firstly, there's known as make-up sleep, that is what you do following a lack of sleep the previous night. Secondly, there's pre-emptive sleep, when you are preparing for a sleep deficit coming up, such as during graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which essentially is about desire: there is an opportunity to doze during the day, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The primary task to do, then, is to examine your nap motivation. “Naps can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep gets interrupted because of factors beyond your control – for example, when you are caring for an infant, or recovering from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” states a sleep physiologist. “But if you take a nap because your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or unreliable, that’s often an indicator your sleep drive is not as strong as it should be. In those cases, naps can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the main goal must always be a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Perfect Nap Length
This implies that daytime sleep shouldn’t be long enough to interfere with your overnight rest, and ideally are not recommended post-3 p.m. (depending on when you go to bed at night). How long is sensible? Advice differs. Among the most-cited studies about napping, researchers at Nasa discovered that astronauts experienced up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% boost in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this involved a six-minute long nodding-off period). “My advice is setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – the majority doze off quickly,” notes a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of advice around about the perfect length for sleeping, however, that can lead individuals to become more worried above all – and the least helpful action you can possibly do while aiming to get to sleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that induces that sluggish feeling, that foggy state when you awaken. “Studies indicates it is preferable to take an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the sleep scientist. “Three-quarters of an hour is long enough to plunge you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel sluggish when you get up – while if you extend it a little longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to be on the end of a sleep cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more alert. Though if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it can influence the quality of your sleep that night.”
Establishing the Right Nap Environment
As for specific techniques, recommendations vary. A few professionals suggest employing similar routines one would use to foster restful sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as possible. Some advise that you should merely snooze in a chair in whatever light is available – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to maintain your bedroom as the place your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Napping is quite challenging to command,” explains a specialist. “Without any drowsiness, it is tougher to lie down and practically instruct yourself to fall asleep. There must be some sleep pressure there to bring the sleep on in the first place. I can usually take a nap in full light and wake up naturally without an alarm, but what helps a lot of people is to look for an instance where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if you have few options – such as, if you’re trying to squeeze in 40 winks while traveling or at the office – it is perfectly fine to employ some accessories. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
