Listen to plenty of performance podcasters, and it’s tempting to convince yourself that dozing is a secret weapon: not just a sticking plaster following a bad night’s sleep, but a route to enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and possibly quicker running times. Elite athletes do it regularly – as do musicians, fighters & business leaders. Yet, when you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or a job that allows frequent naps, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a short sleep to merit the hassle? Does there exist a reliable way to fall asleep fast? And can you really guarantee you will arise feeling refreshed, not worse?
Identifying The Nap Motivation
“Experts note three primary motivations for taking a nap in the adult population,” says a professor of sleep and circadian science researcher. “Firstly, there's known as compensatory napping, which is what happens following insufficient sleep overnight. Another is prophylactic napping, which involves pre-empting insufficient sleep in the future, for instance when working on night shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically is about the wish: you get a chance to sleep in the daytime, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The primary task to undertake, therefore, is to examine your reason for napping. “Napping can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep gets interrupted due to causes beyond your control – for example, for a new parent, or you’re recovering from illness or intense exercise,” says a sleep expert. “However, if you nap as your nighttime sleep feels fragile or poor, that is frequently an indicator your sleep drive is not where it needs to be. In those cases, daytime sleep can turn into a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Employ naps for brief periods for short-term problems – the main goal should still be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
This means that naps must not be long enough to disrupt your overnight rest, and best shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (based on the time you sleep in the evening). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. In one of a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, space agency scientists discovered that space travelers showed up to a 54% increase in alertness and a 34% boost in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this involved an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “My advice is setting a timer for half an hour or less – most people doze off within 10 minutes,” explains a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of guidance out there concerning the perfect length of minutes, yet that often make people feel more anxious than anything else – and the least helpful action you can do when attempting to nod off is worry about it.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages sleep inertia, that foggy state when you awaken. “Research suggests it's more effective to have a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the professor. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel sluggish upon awakening – while if you nap for a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to finish a full cycle and should wake up feeling more alert. However, if you're dozing for a long period, it may impact your sleep that night.”
Creating the Right Sleep Space
When it comes to precise methods, suggestions are diverse. Certain specialists recommend using similar routines one would use to promote restful sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and minimal light as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that one could merely snooze in a chair with ambient lighting is available – to prevent that groggy feeling and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the environment your brain links with nighttime rest. “Napping is quite challenging to force,” says a specialist. “Without the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to recline and essentially command yourself to go to sleep. You need a natural inclination available to start the process to begin with. I can usually snooze in broad daylight and naturally wake up without a timer, but what helps many individuals is to anticipate a time where they feel naturally slightly tired and then simply relax into it.”
Experimentation is key, and should options are scarce – for instance, when aiming to grab some shut-eye during a commute or at the office – it's acceptable to use a few tools. “When I’m working with footballers, I advise that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
