The Key for an Ideal Nap: Timing, Where & for How Long?
Listen to plenty of performance podcasters, and you'll be tempting to convince yourself that a nap is a powerful tool: rather than a quick fix following restless night, but a shortcut to improved recall, better spirits and maybe a faster 5k run time. Premier League soccer players do it regularly – and so are concert pianists, mixed martial artists & media moguls. Yet, when you lack a dedicated nap-room or a career that allows regular snoozing, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a short sleep for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Is there a surefire technique to nod off promptly? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you will arise feeling refreshed, not worse?
Understanding Your Nap Motivation
“There are three main reasons for taking a nap in the adult population,” notes a leading sleep science professor. “Firstly, there's what we call compensatory napping, essentially what you do when you’ve had poor sleep the previous night. The second is pre-emptive sleep, when you are pre-empting insufficient sleep in the future, for instance when working overnight shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially is about desire: there is a chance to sleep during the day, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The initial step to undertake, therefore, is to think about your reason for napping. “Naps can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep is being disrupted because of factors you cannot change – for example, when you are a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep specialist. “However, if you take a nap as your sleep at night seems unreliable or unreliable, that’s often a sign your body's sleep pressure is not where it should be. In such situations, napping can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Employ naps for brief periods for short-term problems – the focus ought to remain a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Snooze Time
This implies that daytime sleep ought not to be too extended to disrupt your sleep at night, and preferably are not recommended post-3 p.m. (based on the time you sleep in the evening). What duration is wise? Advice differs. Among a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, space agency scientists discovered that space travelers showed improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% boost in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this counted a six-minute long sleep onset time). “My advice is setting an alarm for half an hour or less – the majority fall asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a specialist. “You'll find much advice around about the perfect length of minutes, but that tends to cause people to feel more anxious than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing you can possibly do while aiming to nod off is to be anxious.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Studies suggests it's more effective to take a longer nap of one to one and a half hours rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is sufficient to put you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel groggy upon awakening – however, if you extend it a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing of a sleep cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more alert. However, if you're dozing for an hour and a half, it may impact the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Creating the Perfect Nap Environment
Regarding exact methodologies, advice differs. Certain specialists suggest employing comparable habits you use to foster restful sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as is feasible. Alternatively, experts propose that one could simply nap on the sofa in the existing light happens to be around – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to maintain your bedroom as the environment you associate with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to will,” explains a sleep coach. “Without any drowsiness, it is more challenging to lie down and basically tell yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination there to bring the sleep on initially. Personally, I can often snooze in full light and wake up naturally alarm-free, however, what assists most folks is to wait for an instance that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently relax into it.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if your choices are limited – for example, if attempting to grab 40 winks on a train or at the office – there’s nothing wrong with bringing sleep aids. “In my work with footballers, I advise that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
