Listen to plenty of self-improvement gurus, and it’s simple to believe that a nap is a powerful tool: more than a sticking plaster after a bad night’s sleep, but a path towards improved recall, improved mood and maybe improved athletic performance. Professional athletes swear by it – as do concert pianists, UFC champions & business leaders. Yet, when you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or employment that allows regular snoozing, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a short sleep to justify the hassle? Can you find a dependable method to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling better, instead of groggy?
Identifying Your Nap Motivation
“There are three primary motivations for napping among most adults,” explains a leading circadian rhythm professor. “Firstly, there's known as recovery napping, essentially what you do following poor sleep the night before. The second is pre-emptive sleep, where you are anticipating sleep loss in the future, such as during graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which essentially boils down to wanting: there is a moment to nap in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The primary task to consider, so, is to think about why you want to nap. “Naps can be truly beneficial when overnight rest is disturbed due to causes outside your control – for example, if you’re a new parent, or you’re recovering from sickness or intense exercise,” states a sleep physiologist. “However, if you take a nap because your nighttime sleep feels fragile or poor, that’s often an indicator your need for sleep is not as strong as it should be. In those cases, 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 overnight rest.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
Therefore that naps ought not to be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your overnight rest, and best shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (contingent on when you sleep at night). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. From a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa found that crew members had improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% boost in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this involved a six-minute long nodding-off period). “My advice is setting an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals doze off within 10 minutes,” explains a specialist. “There’s a lot of recommendations concerning the perfect length of minutes, yet that often lead individuals to become more stressed than anything – and the worst thing you can possibly do when trying to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, avoid the 45-60 minute window that induces sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “Research would say it's more effective to opt for an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” explains the sleep scientist. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to put you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – however, if you nap for a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be completing a full cycle and will probably awaken feeling more alert. Though if you’re sleeping for a long period, it will affect how you sleep later that night.”
Finding an Ideal Sleep Space
As for precise methods, advice differs. Some experts propose using the same protocol one would use to promote restful sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and minimal light as is feasible. Some advise that you should merely snooze in a chair in the existing light is present – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to preserve your bed as the space your brain links with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to command,” explains a sleep coach. “Lacking any drowsiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and practically tell yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination there to start the process to begin with. Personally, I can often nap in full light and wake up naturally alarm-free, though, what aids a lot of people is to wait for a time when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently relax into it.”
Experimentation is key, and when you have few options – for instance, when aiming to fit in a quick nap while traveling or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong with bringing a few tools. “In my work with footballers, I advise that they not rely on their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
