Tune into plenty of performance experts, and it’s easy to convince yourself that dozing is a secret weapon: not just a quick fix following a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut to improved recall, improved mood and maybe improved athletic performance. Premier League footballers do it regularly – along with concert pianists, UFC champions and high-profile executives. Yet, when you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or employment that allows daytime sleep, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a short sleep to merit the kerfuffle? Is there a dependable method to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you will get up feeling improved, not worse?
Identifying The Nap Motivation
“There are three primary motivations for daytime sleep among most adults,” says a professor of sleep science specialist. “One is what we call compensatory napping, which is what you do after experiencing insufficient sleep the previous night. Another is preparatory napping, which involves pre-empting a sleep deficit coming up, for instance when working on night shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which basically comes down to the wish: there is a moment to nap during the day, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The primary task to consider, therefore, is to think about your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when night sleeping is disturbed because of factors you cannot change – for instance, if you’re a new parent, or you’re recovering from illness or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep expert. “Yet when you take a nap because your sleep at night seems unreliable or poor, that’s often a sign your body's sleep pressure is not where required. Under those circumstances, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the focus must always be a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
Therefore that daytime sleep ought not to be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your overnight rest, and preferably shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (depending on when you sleep at night). What duration is wise? Advice differs. Among the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa discovered that astronauts showed a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this included a six-minute sleep onset time). “I recommend setting a timer for half an hour or less – the majority fall asleep in under ten minutes,” notes a specialist. “You'll find much guidance out there regarding the optimal amount of time, however, that can cause people to feel more worried above all – and the worst thing you can do while aiming to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “The science would say it's more effective to opt for a longer nap of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” notes the expert. “45 minutes is long enough to send you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you wake up – while if you take it a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing a natural sleep cycle and will probably get up feeling more alert. Though if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it may impact how you sleep that night.”
Finding the Perfect Sleep Space
When it comes to precise methods, advice differs. A few professionals recommend employing comparable habits you’d use to promote a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and as much darkness as possible. Others suggest that it's fine to simply nap on a couch in the existing light is available – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the place you associate with nighttime rest. “Napping is something really tricky to force,” notes an expert. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is tougher to lie down and essentially instruct yourself to go to sleep. You need some sleep pressure there to bring the sleep on initially. I can usually nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally without an alarm, though, what aids a lot of people is to wait for a moment that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently relax into it.”
Experimentation is key, and if your choices are limited – such as, if you’re trying to grab some shut-eye while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine with bringing a few tools. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
