Listen to a few performance experts, and you'll be easy to convince yourself that a nap is a powerful tool: rather than a sticking plaster following restless night, but a route towards a better memory, improved mood and maybe a faster 5k run time. Premier League soccer players are all at it – and so are professional piano players, fighters and high-profile executives. However, if you don't have a special sleep space or a career that encourages frequent naps, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a short sleep to merit the hassle? Does there exist a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you will get up feeling better, not worse?
Understanding The Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three primary motivations for daytime sleep for many people,” explains a professor of sleep science specialist. “Firstly, there's what we call compensatory napping, essentially what you do when you’ve had a lack of sleep overnight. The second is pre-emptive sleep, where you are preparing for a sleep deficit ahead, such as when working graveyard shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which basically is about wanting: there is a chance to nap in the afternoon, and it feels nice to nap.”
The first thing to consider, therefore, is to examine your reason for napping. “Napping can be truly beneficial when night sleeping is disturbed due to causes beyond your control – for instance, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from sickness or intense exercise,” says a sleep specialist. “Yet when you’re napping since your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or unreliable, that can be a signal your need for sleep is not where it should be. In such situations, napping can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Use napping for brief periods for temporary issues – the focus ought to remain a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
This means that napping must not be too extended to affect your overnight rest, and ideally are not recommended post-3 p.m. (contingent on the time you retire in the evening). How long is sensible? Advice differs. From the most-cited studies on the subject, researchers at Nasa noted that crew members had a boost of up to 54% in vigilance plus a 34% rise in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this counted an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “My advice is setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals doze off quickly,” says a sleep coach. “You'll find much guidance out there regarding the ideal number of minutes, but that tends to lead individuals to become more worried than anything – and the most counterproductive thing you can possibly do when attempting to fall asleep is worry about it.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, bypass the 45-60 minute window that promotes that sluggish feeling, that foggy state when you wake. “Research would say it’s better to opt for an extended nap of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” explains the expert. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to plunge you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel sluggish when you get up – however, if you take it a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to finish a full cycle and are likely to get up feeling more refreshed. Though if you’re sleeping for a long period, it can influence the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Creating the Right Sleep Space
As for exact methodologies, recommendations vary. Some experts suggest employing the same protocol you’d use to promote restful sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as possible. Some advise that it's fine to simply nap on a couch in whatever light is available – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the place your mind associates with proper sleep. “Napping is quite challenging to command,” says a sleep coach. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to get comfortable and basically command yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination there to bring the sleep on initially. For me, it's possible to take a nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally without a timer, though, what aids most folks is to wait for a time when they are naturally slightly tired and then simply allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should your choices are limited – for instance, if you’re trying to squeeze in a quick nap while traveling or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine with bringing a few tools. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I recommend that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, as they’re going to have|they will
