Hear enough productivity experts, and it’s easy to convince yourself that napping is a secret weapon: rather than a band-aid following a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut towards improved recall, better spirits and maybe quicker running times. Professional footballers do it regularly – as do professional piano players, UFC champions & media moguls. Yet, when you lack a dedicated nap-room or a job that encourages frequent naps, are there *really* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye to merit the kerfuffle? Can you find a surefire technique to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, not worse?
Understanding The Nap Motivation
“Experts note three main reasons for napping in the adult population,” says a professor of sleep and circadian science specialist. “Firstly, there's termed make-up sleep, essentially what you do when you’ve had a lack of sleep the previous night. The second is prophylactic napping, which involves preparing for sleep loss in the future, for instance when working on night shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which simply is about desire: you have an opportunity to nap in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The first thing to do, therefore, is to examine your nap motivation. “Naps can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep gets interrupted for reasons outside your control – such as, if you’re a new parent, or recovering from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” states a sleep expert. “However, if you take a nap since your night sleep seems unreliable or poor, that’s often an indicator your sleep drive is not where it needs to be. In those cases, napping can become part of the problem, not the solution. Employ naps as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the main goal ought to remain a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Optimal Snooze Time
This means that naps must not be long enough to disrupt your sleep at night, and best should not occur post-3 p.m. (based on what time you go to bed overnight). What duration is wise? Recommendations vary. From the most-cited studies on the subject, space agency scientists discovered that crew members showed improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% boost in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this involved a six-minute long sleep onset time). “I recommend setting an alarm for half an hour or less – most people doze off quickly,” says a specialist. “There is plenty of guidance out there about the perfect length of time, but that tends to cause people to feel more worried than anything – and the most counterproductive thing you can do when attempting to nod off is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that promotes that sluggish feeling, that foggy state when you awaken. “The science would say it’s better to opt for a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” explains the expert. “45 minutes is sufficient to plunge you into deep sleep and you’re more likely to feel disoriented when you get up – whereas if you take it slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing a natural sleep cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more refreshed. Though if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it may impact the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Establishing an Ideal Snooze Setting
Regarding exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. Some experts propose using the same protocol you use to promote a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that you should just doze in a chair with ambient lighting is available – to prevent sleep inertia and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the space your brain links with nighttime rest. “Napping is notoriously difficult to force,” notes a sleep coach. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and practically command yourself to nod off. There must be some drive available to bring the sleep on to begin with. For me, it's possible to nap during the day and naturally wake up without an alarm, though, what aids many individuals is to anticipate a moment that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when your choices are limited – for instance, when aiming to grab a quick nap while traveling or at the office – it's acceptable to use sleep aids. “Coaching elite athletes, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
