Hear plenty of performance experts, and it’s simple to convince yourself that dozing is a powerful tool: not just a quick fix after restless night, but a path towards improved recall, improved mood and maybe a faster 5k run time. Professional athletes are all at it – along with musicians, fighters and business leaders. But if you lack a special sleep space or employment that permits frequent naps, are there *really* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the hassle? Does there exist a reliable way to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you will get up feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Understanding The Nap Motivation
“Experts note three primary motivations for daytime sleep among most adults,” explains a leading circadian rhythm professor. “The first is termed recovery napping, that is what happens following insufficient sleep the night before. Another is pre-emptive sleep, where you are preparing for insufficient sleep coming up, for example when working overnight shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which simply comes down to desire: you get a moment to doze in the daytime, and it feels nice to nap.”
The first thing to consider, then, is to think about your nap motivation. “Napping can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted for reasons outside your control – for example, if you’re caring for an infant, or if you are healing from illness or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep specialist. “But if you nap as your night sleep feels fragile or poor, that is frequently a sign your sleep drive is not as strong as it needs to be. In such situations, napping can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Use napping as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the focus should still be a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
Therefore that daytime sleep ought not to be too extended to disrupt your sleep at night, and preferably shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (contingent on what time you go to bed in the evening). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. Among a prominent study on the subject, researchers at Nasa discovered that astronauts showed up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% increase in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this included a six-minute long sleep onset time). “My advice is setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals are asleep within 10 minutes,” says a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of recommendations about the perfect length for sleeping, but that tends to cause people to feel more worried than anything – and the most counterproductive thing you can possibly do when trying to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that induces that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “The science indicates it is preferable to have a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the professor. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to put you into deep sleep and you’re more likely to feel disoriented when you get up – while if you extend it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to finish 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 the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Creating the Perfect Snooze Setting
As for exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. Some experts suggest adopting comparable habits you use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and as much darkness as you can manage. Others suggest that one could just doze in a chair with ambient lighting is available – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bedroom as the space your mind associates with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to will,” notes a specialist. “Without the urge to sleep, it is tougher to get comfortable and essentially instruct yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some sleep pressure present to bring the sleep on in the first place. Personally, I can often nap during the day and naturally wake up without an alarm, however, what assists a lot of people is to anticipate a time where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently ease into sleep.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if you have few options – for example, when aiming to squeeze in some shut-eye while traveling or at the office – it is perfectly fine with bringing some accessories. “Coaching elite athletes, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
