Tune into a few self-improvement podcasters, and it’s easy to think that napping is a secret weapon: more than a band-aid following poor sleep, but a path to enhanced cognition, improved mood and perhaps improved athletic performance. Professional athletes swear by it – along with concert pianists, UFC champions & media moguls. But if you don't have a room for napping or a career that encourages regular snoozing, is it *truly* enough benefits to a short sleep to merit the kerfuffle? Is there a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you will arise feeling better, instead of groggy?
Understanding Your Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three primary motivations for napping in the adult population,” explains an expert circadian rhythm researcher. “One is termed compensatory napping, essentially the action you take following poor sleep the previous night. The second is pre-emptive sleep, which involves preparing for sleep loss coming up, for example when working graveyard shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which basically boils down to the wish: there is a chance to sleep during the day, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The primary task to consider, then, is consider your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep gets interrupted for reasons you cannot change – such as, if you’re a new parent, or you’re recovering after being ill or intense exercise,” explains a sleep expert. “But if you take a nap as your sleep at night is unstable or unreliable, that is frequently a sign your sleep drive is not where it should be. In such situations, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the priority must always be a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This implies that naps shouldn’t be long enough to affect your sleep at night, and ideally are not recommended in the late afternoon (based on what time you go to bed overnight). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. From the most referenced research on the subject, space agency scientists found that space travelers had up to a 54% increase in alertness and a 34% boost in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this counted a six-minute long nodding-off period). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals fall asleep in under ten minutes,” says a specialist. “There’s a lot of guidance out there concerning the optimal amount for sleeping, but that tends to lead individuals to become more stressed above all – and the worst thing you can do while aiming to nod off is to be anxious.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “Research would say it's more effective to take a longer nap of one to one and a half hours rather than a mid-length nap,” says the sleep scientist. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel sluggish upon awakening – whereas if you extend it slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing of a sleep cycle and should wake up feeling more refreshed. However, if you nap for a long period, it may impact the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Snooze Setting
As for specific techniques, advice differs. A few professionals propose employing the same protocol you use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a cozy bed and minimal light as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that one could simply nap on a couch with ambient lighting happens to be around – both to discourage sleep inertia and to preserve your bedroom as the space you associate with proper sleep. “Napping is quite challenging to command,” notes a sleep coach. “Lacking any drowsiness, it is tougher to get comfortable and essentially command yourself to nod off. There’s got to be a natural inclination available to bring the sleep on initially. For me, it's possible to take a nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up without a timer, though, what aids a lot of people is to anticipate a moment when they are naturally slightly tired and calmly ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and if options are scarce – for instance, if you’re trying to grab some shut-eye on a train or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong with bringing some accessories. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will
