Listen to a few productivity gurus, and you'll be easy to believe that a nap is a superpower: more than a sticking plaster after restless night, but a route towards enhanced cognition, better spirits and possibly quicker running times. Premier League athletes swear by it – along with concert pianists, mixed martial artists & business leaders. Yet, when you haven’t got a special sleep space or a job that allows daytime sleep, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a short sleep to merit the hassle? Can you find a surefire technique to nod off promptly? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling better, rather than worse?
Exploring The Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three primary motivations for daytime sleep for many people,” says a leading sleep science professor. “Firstly, there's known as compensatory napping, which is what you do when you’ve had insufficient sleep the night before. The second is pre-emptive sleep, when you are pre-empting a sleep deficit in the future, for example during overnight shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which basically boils down to desire: you get a chance to nap during the day, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The primary task to undertake, therefore, is consider your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep is disturbed because of factors you cannot change – such as, for a new parent, or if you are healing from illness or heavy physical exertion,” states a sleep specialist. “Yet when you nap because your nighttime sleep is unstable or broken, that is frequently a signal your need for sleep is not at the level it needs to be. Under those circumstances, napping can become part of the issue, rather than the answer. Use napping as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the main goal should still be a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
This implies that naps shouldn’t be long enough to interfere with your sleep at night, and ideally shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (contingent on what time you go to bed overnight). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. In one of a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa found that astronauts experienced improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% boost in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this involved a six-minute nodding-off period). “My advice is setting an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – most people fall asleep quickly,” says a sleep coach. “You'll find much guidance out there concerning the perfect length of minutes, yet that often cause people to feel more worried than anything else – and the worst thing one can do when trying to fall asleep is worry about it.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that encourages that sluggish feeling, that foggy state when you awaken. “Studies suggests it is preferable to opt for an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the professor. “45 minutes is long enough to put you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you wake up – however, if you nap for slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to finish a natural sleep cycle and should get up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you're dozing for an hour and a half, it will affect how you sleep in the evening.”
Establishing the Right Sleep Space
When it comes to exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals recommend adopting the same protocol you’d use to promote restful sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and as much darkness as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that you should merely snooze in a chair in the existing light is present – to prevent sleep inertia and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the space your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to force,” says a specialist. “Without any drowsiness, it is tougher to lie down and basically tell yourself to fall asleep. You need some sleep pressure there to start the process to begin with. I can usually snooze in broad daylight and awaken on my own without an alarm, though, what aids many individuals is to anticipate an instance that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and calmly allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should you have few options – for example, if you’re trying to squeeze in a quick nap during a commute or at the office – it's acceptable to employ some accessories. “When I’m working with professional sportspeople, I advise that they don’t get used to napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will
