Listen to enough performance experts, making it simple to believe that a nap is a secret weapon: rather than a band-aid following poor sleep, but a path towards a better memory, improved mood and perhaps improved athletic performance. Elite footballers swear by it – as do concert pianists, UFC champions & media moguls. However, if you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or employment that encourages daytime sleep, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye to merit the hassle? Can you find a reliable way to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling improved, not worse?
Exploring Your Nap Motivation
“Experts note three primary motivations for napping in the adult population,” notes a leading circadian rhythm researcher. “The first is what we call make-up sleep, essentially the action you take when you’ve had poor sleep overnight. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, where you are preparing for sleep loss ahead, for example during on night shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which simply is about the wish: you have a moment to sleep in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The first thing to consider, then, is to examine your reason for napping. “Napping can be truly beneficial when night sleeping is being disrupted due to causes you cannot change – for instance, when you are caring for an infant, or recovering from illness or strenuous activity,” states a sleep specialist. “But if you nap as your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or unreliable, that can be a sign your need for sleep is not as strong as required. In those cases, naps can become part of the problem, not the solution. Employ naps as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the priority ought to remain a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This implies that naps shouldn’t be too extended to disrupt your overnight rest, and best shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (contingent on the time you go to bed in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. From a prominent study on the subject, experts found that crew members showed up to a 54% increase in alertness plus a 34% rise in task performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this included a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “My advice is setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – many individuals doze off quickly,” says a sleep expert. “There is plenty of recommendations concerning the ideal number of minutes, but that tends to cause people to feel more worried than anything else – and the least helpful action you can do while aiming to get to sleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, avoid the 45-60 minute window that induces sleep grogginess, that foggy state when you wake. “Research would say it’s better to have a longer nap of one to one and a half hours compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to put you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel sluggish upon awakening – while if you take it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end of a sleep cycle and should get up feeling more alert. However, if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it may impact your sleep in the evening.”
Finding the Right Snooze Setting
When it comes to exact methodologies, advice differs. Some experts propose using comparable habits you’d use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a cozy bed and as much darkness as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that one could just doze in a chair in the existing light happens to be around – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to “protect” your bedroom as the environment your mind associates with proper sleep. “Napping is something really tricky to command,” notes a specialist. “Without any drowsiness, it is more challenging to lie down and basically tell yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some drive present to bring the sleep on to begin with. For me, it's possible to snooze in broad daylight and wake up naturally without a timer, however, what assists most folks is to look for a moment when they are naturally slightly tired and just gently relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should your choices are limited – for example, when aiming to fit in a quick nap while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable with bringing sleep aids. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
