Listen to a few performance podcasters, and you'll be easy to think that napping is a secret weapon: not just a sticking plaster following restless night, but a route towards enhanced cognition, improved mood and perhaps quicker running times. Professional soccer players are all at it – along with concert pianists, fighters & media moguls. However, if you don't have a dedicated nap-room or a job that permits regular snoozing, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Does there exist a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you will get up feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Exploring Your Drive to Snooze
“There are three key drivers for taking a nap among most adults,” notes an expert circadian rhythm specialist. “One is what we call recovery napping, essentially what you do after experiencing insufficient sleep overnight. Secondly, there's pre-emptive sleep, which involves pre-empting a sleep deficit coming up, such as if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which essentially is about the wish: there is a moment to sleep in the daytime, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The initial step to undertake, then, is consider why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when overnight rest is disturbed because of factors beyond your control – for instance, for caring for an infant, or you’re recovering after being ill or strenuous activity,” states a sleep expert. “However, if you take a nap as your nighttime sleep is unstable or broken, that is frequently a sign your sleep drive is not where it needs to be. In such situations, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the priority must always be a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
Therefore that daytime sleep shouldn’t be too extended to disrupt your nighttime sleep, and best shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (based on when you go to bed at night). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. Among the most-cited studies on the subject, experts noted that crew members had improvements of over 50% in vigilance plus a 34% rise in performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this counted a six-minute falling asleep phase). “My advice is setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority are asleep quickly,” explains a specialist. “There is plenty of recommendations about the optimal amount for sleeping, however, that can lead individuals to become more stressed above all – and the least helpful action one can do while aiming to nod off is worry about it.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “The science would say it’s better to take a longer nap of one to one and a half hours compared to a medium-length nap,” says the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to send you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel sluggish when you get up – whereas if you extend it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be completing of a sleep cycle and should get up feeling more alert. But if you nap for 90 minutes, it will affect the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Finding the Perfect Sleep Space
When it comes to exact methodologies, recommendations vary. Certain specialists propose using the same protocol you’d use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a supportive surface and minimal light as is feasible. Some advise that one could just doze on a couch in the existing light is available – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to “protect” your bedroom as the place your mind associates with nighttime rest. “Napping is notoriously difficult to force,” notes an expert. “Without any sleepiness, it is more challenging to get comfortable and essentially command yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some drive available to bring the sleep on initially. For me, it's possible to snooze during the day and naturally wake up without a timer, but what helps most folks is to look for an instance that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply ease into sleep.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if you have few options – for instance, if you’re trying to squeeze in a quick nap during a commute or in a work pod – it's acceptable with bringing some accessories. “When I’m working with footballers, I suggest that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
