Hear enough productivity experts, making it tempting to think that napping is a powerful tool: rather than a band-aid following poor sleep, but a path towards a better memory, better spirits and perhaps quicker running times. Premier League athletes are all at it – along with musicians, mixed martial artists & media moguls. Yet, when you haven’t got a room for napping or a job that permits regular snoozing, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a short sleep to merit the hassle? Is there a reliable way to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you will arise feeling better, not worse?
Exploring Your Nap Motivation
“There are three main reasons for taking a nap in the adult population,” notes a professor of circadian rhythm specialist. “Firstly, there's what we call compensatory napping, essentially the action you take when you’ve had insufficient sleep the previous night. Another is preparatory napping, where you are preparing for sleep loss coming up, such as if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially boils down to wanting: you get an opportunity to nap during the day, and it feels nice to do it.”
The first thing to undertake, then, is to think about your reason for napping. “Napping can be truly beneficial when night sleeping is being disrupted for reasons outside your control – for example, if you’re a new parent, or you’re recovering from illness or heavy physical exertion,” states a sleep expert. “But if you nap because your sleep at night seems unreliable or broken, that’s often a sign your sleep drive is not at the level required. In those cases, napping can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the priority must always be a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
This implies that daytime sleep ought not to be too extended to disrupt your nighttime sleep, and preferably should not occur in the late afternoon (depending on what time you sleep overnight). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. Among the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa discovered that space travelers experienced up to a 54% increase in alertness plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this included an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority are asleep quickly,” notes a specialist. “There’s a lot of advice around regarding the perfect length of minutes, but that tends to make people feel more stressed above all – and the worst thing you can possibly do when attempting to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that promotes sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “The science suggests it's more effective to opt for a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is long enough to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel sluggish upon awakening – however, if you extend it a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more rejuvenated. But if you nap for an hour and a half, it will affect your sleep that night.”
Finding the Perfect Nap Environment
As for specific techniques, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals propose using similar routines one would use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and minimal light as possible. Others suggest that you should just doze on a couch with ambient lighting happens to be around – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to preserve your bedroom as the place your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to command,” says an expert. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is tougher to get comfortable and essentially instruct yourself to fall asleep. You need some drive present to initiate sleep to begin with. For me, it's possible to nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up without an alarm, however, what assists a lot of people is to anticipate an instance when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and should options are scarce – for instance, when aiming to grab a quick nap while traveling or at the office – it's acceptable with bringing a few tools. “When I’m working with professional sportspeople, I suggest that they not rely on their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
