Hear enough self-improvement podcasters, and it’s simple to believe that dozing is a superpower: rather than a sticking plaster following restless night, but a shortcut towards a better memory, a brighter outlook and possibly quicker running times. Elite footballers are all at it – and so are professional piano players, fighters and business leaders. But if you lack a room for napping or a job that permits daytime sleep, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a quick nap to merit the effort? Does there exist a surefire technique to nod off promptly? And can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling better, not worse?
Exploring The Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three main reasons for daytime sleep among most adults,” explains a professor of circadian rhythm researcher. “One is what we call compensatory napping, which is what happens following a lack of sleep the night before. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, which involves preparing for insufficient sleep coming up, such as during on night shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially is about desire: you have a moment to sleep in the afternoon, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The first thing to consider, so, is to examine your reason for napping. “Naps can be really helpful when overnight rest is disturbed for reasons you cannot change – for instance, when you are caring for an infant, or recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep physiologist. “However, if you’re napping as your nighttime sleep is unstable or poor, that’s often an indicator your need for sleep is not as strong as it should be. In those cases, daytime sleep can turn into a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the focus should still be a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
This implies that daytime sleep ought not to be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your sleep at night, and preferably should not occur in the late afternoon (contingent on the time you retire overnight). What duration is wise? Advice differs. Among the most-cited studies on the subject, researchers at Nasa noted that space travelers showed up to a 54% increase in alertness and a 34% boost in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this involved an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “I’d suggest using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – the majority are asleep within 10 minutes,” says a sleep coach. “There is plenty of guidance out there regarding the perfect length of minutes, but that tends to cause people to feel more stressed above all – and the least helpful action one can do while aiming to nod off is worry about it.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, avoid the 45-60 minute window that promotes sleep grogginess, that foggy state upon waking. “Research suggests it is preferable to have an extended nap of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” says the expert. “45 minutes is long enough to put you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel disoriented upon awakening – however, if you nap for slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing a natural sleep cycle and should get up feeling more refreshed. Though if you nap for an hour and a half, it can influence how you sleep later that night.”
Establishing an Ideal Nap Environment
As for precise methods, recommendations vary. Certain specialists suggest employing the same protocol one would use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and minimal light as possible. Others suggest that one could just doze on a couch in whatever light is present – to avoid sleep inertia and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the space your mind associates with nighttime rest. “Napping is quite challenging to will,” notes a sleep coach. “Lacking any sleepiness, it is more challenging to recline and practically instruct yourself to fall asleep. There must be some drive present to start the process initially. Personally, I can often nap during the day and awaken on my own alarm-free, though, what aids many individuals is to look for a moment when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if options are scarce – for instance, when aiming to grab 40 winks during a commute or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong to use sleep aids. “In my work with footballers, I suggest that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
