Listen to enough productivity gurus, making it simple to believe that dozing is a powerful tool: more than a band-aid following a bad night’s sleep, but a route towards a better memory, a brighter outlook and maybe quicker running times. Premier League soccer players do it regularly – along with concert pianists, mixed martial artists & media moguls. Yet, when you haven’t got a special sleep space or a job that allows frequent naps, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the effort? Is there a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you will arise feeling better, not worse?
Identifying The Reasons for Napping
“There are three main reasons for daytime sleep for many people,” says a leading circadian rhythm professor. “One is termed compensatory napping, that is what happens after experiencing poor sleep the previous night. The second is pre-emptive sleep, which involves preparing for a sleep deficit ahead, for example during graveyard shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which essentially comes down to wanting: there is an opportunity to sleep in the afternoon, and it feels nice to do it.”
The first thing to do, therefore, is to think about your reason for napping. “Naps can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted due to causes you cannot change – for instance, if you’re caring for an infant, or recovering from sickness or intense exercise,” explains a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you nap as your sleep at night is unstable or poor, that is frequently an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not where it needs to be. In those cases, daytime sleep can turn into a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the focus should still be a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
This means that napping ought not to be too extended to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and preferably shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (based on when you sleep at night). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. From the most-cited studies about napping, researchers at Nasa discovered that crew members had up to a 54% increase in alertness plus a 34% rise in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this involved a six-minute long nodding-off period). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – most people are asleep in under ten minutes,” says a specialist. “There’s a lot of recommendations about the perfect length for sleeping, but that tends to lead individuals to become more anxious than anything – and the most counterproductive thing you can do while aiming to get to sleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, bypass the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Research suggests it's more effective to take a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is sufficient to plunge you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel sluggish when you wake up – whereas if you extend it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be completing of a sleep cycle and will probably wake up feeling more refreshed. But if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it can influence how you sleep later that night.”
Creating the Perfect Snooze Setting
Regarding precise methods, advice differs. Some experts suggest using the same protocol you use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and minimal light as possible. Some advise that one could merely snooze on the sofa in whatever light is available – to avoid that groggy feeling and to “protect” your bed as the space your mind associates with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to force,” explains a sleep coach. “Without the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to lie down and practically command yourself to go to sleep. You need 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, though, what aids many individuals is to look for a time when they are naturally slightly tired and calmly allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and if your choices are limited – for instance, if you’re trying to fit in 40 winks during a commute or in a work pod – it's acceptable with bringing a few tools. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I advise that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
