Tune into a few performance experts, making it simple to think that a nap is a powerful tool: rather than a band-aid after restless night, but a path to a better memory, improved mood and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Professional soccer players swear by it – along with musicians, fighters and business leaders. Yet, when you haven’t got a room for napping or a job that allows daytime sleep, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a short sleep to merit the hassle? Does there exist a reliable way to fall asleep fast? And can you honestly promise you will arise feeling better, instead of groggy?
Identifying The Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three main reasons for napping for many people,” notes a leading circadian rhythm researcher. “Firstly, there's what we call make-up sleep, which is what you do when you’ve had insufficient sleep overnight. Another is preparatory napping, when you are preparing for insufficient sleep in the future, such as if you’re working on night shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which simply boils down to the wish: you get a moment to nap in the afternoon, and it feels nice to do it.”
The initial step to consider, so, is to examine why you want to nap. “Napping can be genuinely useful when overnight rest gets interrupted due to causes beyond your control – for instance, for caring for an infant, or if you are healing from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep expert. “But if you nap since your night sleep seems unreliable or poor, that can be an indicator your need for sleep is not where it needs to be. Under those circumstances, naps can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the main goal must always be a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This implies that daytime sleep shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your nighttime sleep, and preferably shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (contingent on the time you go to bed overnight). What duration is wise? Advice differs. From the most-cited studies on the subject, experts noted that space travelers showed a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this involved an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “My advice is setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority doze off in under ten minutes,” says a specialist. “You'll find much guidance out there regarding the optimal amount for sleeping, yet that often cause people to feel more anxious than anything – and the least helpful action you can do when attempting to fall asleep is to be anxious.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, bypass the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “Research would say it's more effective to take a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” says the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is sufficient to plunge you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel sluggish when you wake up – whereas if you extend it slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be on the end a full cycle and will probably wake up feeling more alert. Though if you nap for an hour and a half, it can influence your sleep that night.”
Finding the Right Snooze Setting
As for exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. Some experts suggest adopting similar routines you’d use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that you should merely snooze on a couch with ambient lighting is available – to prevent sleep inertia and to maintain your bedroom as the environment your brain links with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to will,” explains an expert. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it is tougher to recline and basically command yourself to nod off. There must be a natural inclination there to bring the sleep on initially. I can usually snooze in broad daylight and naturally wake up alarm-free, though, what aids most folks is to look for an instance that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when options are scarce – such as, when aiming to squeeze in a quick nap on a train or in a work pod – it's acceptable to use sleep aids. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
