Tune into enough performance experts, making it tempting to think that napping is a powerful tool: rather than a quick fix after restless night, but a shortcut towards enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and maybe improved athletic performance. Professional soccer players swear by it – and so are musicians, fighters and high-profile executives. Yet, when you lack a room for napping or a job that encourages daytime sleep, are there *really* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye to justify the effort? Can you find a dependable method to nod off promptly? And can you truly ensure you will arise feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Exploring Your Nap Motivation
“There are three main reasons for daytime sleep for many people,” notes a leading circadian rhythm researcher. “Firstly, there's known as recovery napping, which is what you do when you’ve had poor sleep overnight. The second is preparatory napping, which involves anticipating insufficient sleep coming up, such as during graveyard shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which basically is about the wish: you get a moment to sleep in the daytime, and it's pleasant to indulge.”
The initial step to do, so, is to examine why you want to nap. “Naps can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted due to causes you cannot change – such as, if you’re caring for an infant, or if you are healing from illness or intense exercise,” explains a sleep specialist. “However, if you nap as your sleep at night seems unreliable or broken, that can be a signal your sleep drive is not where it should be. In those cases, naps can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the priority must always be a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Optimal Snooze Time
This means that naps must not be sufficiently lengthy to affect your nighttime sleep, and preferably shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (contingent on when you sleep at night). What duration is wise? Recommendations vary. In one of the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa found that astronauts experienced a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this included an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting a timer for half an hour or less – the majority doze off quickly,” notes a sleep coach. “You'll find much guidance out there about the optimal amount of minutes, but that tends to make people feel more stressed above all – and the worst thing one can do while aiming to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes sleep inertia, that foggy state when you awaken. “Research suggests it is preferable to opt for a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to plunge you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel disoriented when you get up – however, if you extend it a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing of a sleep cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more refreshed. But if you nap for a long period, it will affect how you sleep that night.”
Creating an Ideal Sleep Space
As for precise methods, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals propose employing the same protocol you use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a supportive surface and minimal light as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that one could simply nap on the sofa in whatever light is present – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bed as the space you associate with *real* sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to force,” notes a sleep coach. “Lacking any drowsiness, it becomes harder to lie down and practically command yourself to go to sleep. You need some sleep pressure present to initiate sleep in the first place. I can usually take a nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally without an alarm, though, what aids a lot of people is to anticipate an instance that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if you have few options – such as, if you’re trying to fit in some shut-eye during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong to employ some accessories. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
