Hear a few productivity experts, making it simple to convince yourself that napping is a secret weapon: not just a sticking plaster after poor sleep, but a path to improved recall, a brighter outlook and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Premier League athletes swear by it – along with professional piano players, mixed martial artists & business leaders. However, if you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or a job that encourages regular snoozing, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a short sleep to justify the hassle? Is there a reliable way to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you will get up feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Identifying Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three main reasons for daytime sleep among most adults,” notes a professor of sleep science professor. “One is termed compensatory napping, essentially what happens after experiencing poor sleep the night before. Another is pre-emptive sleep, where you are preparing for sleep loss in the future, such as when working overnight shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which simply comes down to desire: you get a chance to nap in the daytime, and it feels nice to do it.”
The initial step to undertake, so, is consider why you want to nap. “Napping can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is disturbed because of factors you cannot change – for example, when you are a new parent, or you’re recovering from illness or heavy physical exertion,” states a sleep specialist. “But if you’re napping since your nighttime sleep is unstable or poor, that can be a signal your sleep drive is not at the level it should be. In those cases, napping can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Employ naps as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the focus should still be a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Optimal Nap Length
Therefore that naps shouldn’t be long enough to interfere with your sleep at night, and ideally shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (based on what time you sleep overnight). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most referenced research about napping, researchers at Nasa noted that space travelers experienced up to a 54% increase in attentiveness and a 34% increase in performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this counted a six-minute sleep onset time). “My advice is setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority doze off within 10 minutes,” says a specialist. “You'll find much advice around concerning the ideal number of time, yet that often cause people to feel more worried than anything else – and the worst thing you can possibly do while aiming to fall asleep is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes sleep grogginess, that foggy state upon waking. “The science indicates it's more effective to take a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” notes the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel groggy when you get up – while if you nap for a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be on the end a full cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more refreshed. But if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it can influence the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Finding the Perfect Snooze Setting
As for exact methodologies, advice differs. Some experts propose adopting the same protocol you use to foster a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and minimal light as you can manage. Others suggest that you should just doze on a couch with ambient lighting happens to be around – to avoid that groggy feeling and to maintain your bed as the environment your mind associates with proper sleep. “Napping is something really tricky to will,” notes a sleep coach. “Without the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to get comfortable and essentially command yourself to nod off. There must be some sleep pressure there to bring the sleep on initially. I can usually snooze during the day and naturally wake up without an alarm, though, what aids most folks is to anticipate a time that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently ease into sleep.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and should your choices are limited – for instance, if attempting to grab a quick nap while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable to employ sleep aids. “In my work with elite athletes, I advise that they don’t get used to napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will
