Listen to plenty of productivity gurus, and it’s easy to convince yourself that napping is a secret weapon: rather than a band-aid after poor sleep, but a path towards enhanced cognition, better spirits and maybe quicker running times. Premier League soccer players do it regularly – as do musicians, fighters & business leaders. But if you don't have a special sleep space or a career that allows regular snoozing, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Can you find a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you will get up feeling better, not worse?
Identifying Your Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three key drivers for daytime sleep in the adult population,” explains a leading circadian rhythm specialist. “One is known as make-up sleep, that is what you do following a lack of sleep the previous night. The second is pre-emptive sleep, where you are anticipating a sleep deficit ahead, for instance during graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which essentially is about wanting: you get a moment to sleep during the day, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The primary task to do, so, is to examine your nap motivation. “Naps can be really helpful when night sleeping is being disrupted due to causes beyond your control – such as, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or recovering from sickness or intense exercise,” states a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you take a nap as your nighttime sleep feels fragile or unreliable, that’s often a signal your sleep drive is not at the level it needs to be. In those cases, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, rather than the answer. Employ naps for brief periods for short-term problems – the main goal ought to remain a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Nap Length
Therefore that napping must not be too extended to affect your overnight rest, and ideally shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (based on when you retire at night). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. Among a prominent study on the subject, experts found that astronauts showed up to a 54% increase in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this included an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals fall asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of advice around concerning the ideal number for sleeping, but that tends to cause people to feel more anxious than anything – and the worst thing you can possibly do while aiming to fall asleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that promotes sleep inertia, that foggy state when you wake. “Research indicates it is preferable to have a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to plunge you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – whereas if you nap for a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to be on the end a full cycle and will probably wake up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it can influence how you sleep later that night.”
Establishing the Right Sleep Space
When it comes to specific techniques, suggestions are diverse. Certain specialists suggest using the same protocol you’d use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and minimal light as is feasible. Others suggest that it's fine to just doze on a couch with ambient lighting is present – to prevent sleep inertia and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the space you associate with *real* sleep. “Sleep is something really tricky to command,” says a sleep coach. “Lacking any sleepiness, it is tougher to lie down and basically tell yourself to fall asleep. There must be some sleep pressure available to initiate sleep to begin with. Personally, I can often nap during the day and awaken on my own alarm-free, but what helps many individuals is to wait for a time that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and should options are scarce – for example, if attempting to squeeze in 40 winks during a commute or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong to use some accessories. “Coaching elite athletes, I suggest that they not rely on napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
