Listen to plenty of performance podcasters, making it simple to convince yourself that a nap is a superpower: more than a band-aid after poor sleep, but a route towards improved recall, a brighter outlook and perhaps improved athletic performance. Elite footballers swear by it – as do professional piano players, UFC champions and business leaders. However, if you don't have a special sleep space or a job that permits frequent naps, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a quick nap to justify the effort? Can you find a reliable way to nod off promptly? And can you honestly promise you will arise feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Understanding The Nap Motivation
“There are three main reasons for daytime sleep for many people,” notes an expert circadian rhythm specialist. “Firstly, there's known as make-up sleep, which is the action you take following insufficient sleep the previous night. The second is pre-emptive sleep, which involves pre-empting a sleep deficit ahead, for example during overnight shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which simply comes down to the wish: there is a chance to nap during the day, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The primary task to do, then, is to think about your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when overnight rest is being disrupted for reasons outside your control – for example, when you are a new parent, or you’re recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” states a sleep physiologist. “However, if you’re napping as your nighttime sleep is unstable or poor, that is frequently an indicator your need for sleep is not as strong as required. In such situations, napping can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Use napping as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the main goal should still be a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
This implies that daytime sleep shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and ideally are not recommended in the late afternoon (depending on the time you retire at night). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. Among the most-cited studies on the subject, space agency scientists discovered that crew members showed up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% increase in performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this counted a six-minute long sleep onset time). “I’d suggest using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – most people are asleep quickly,” notes a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of guidance out there regarding the optimal amount of time, however, that can cause people to feel more stressed than anything else – and the least helpful action one can do while aiming to nod off is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that promotes that sluggish feeling, that foggy state upon waking. “Studies indicates it is preferable to have an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” notes the professor. “45 minutes is long enough to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you wake up – whereas if you extend it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to finish of a sleep cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more alert. However, if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it will affect the quality of your sleep that night.”
Creating the Right Snooze Setting
As for precise methods, suggestions are diverse. Some experts propose employing similar routines one would use to encourage restful sleep: a quiet room, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that you should simply nap on the sofa in whatever light is available – to avoid sleep inertia and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the environment you associate with nighttime rest. “Napping is quite challenging to command,” notes a sleep coach. “Without the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to lie down and essentially instruct yourself to go to sleep. You need some drive present to bring the sleep on in the first place. Personally, I can often snooze in broad daylight and naturally wake up alarm-free, but what helps a lot of people is to look for an instance where they feel naturally slightly tired and calmly ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should options are scarce – for instance, if attempting to squeeze in a quick nap during a commute or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong to employ sleep aids. “Coaching footballers, I advise that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, as they’re going to have|they will
