Hear enough self-improvement experts, and it’s tempting to think that napping is a superpower: rather than a quick fix following a bad night’s sleep, but a path to enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and maybe a faster 5k run time. Elite footballers do it regularly – as do professional piano players, UFC champions and business leaders. However, if you lack a special sleep space or a career that encourages daytime sleep, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a quick nap for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Does there exist a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you will arise feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Exploring Your Nap Motivation
“We can identify three primary motivations for daytime sleep in the adult population,” says a professor of sleep science specialist. “The first is what we call recovery napping, that is the action you take after experiencing insufficient sleep the night before. Secondly, there's pre-emptive sleep, where you are preparing for insufficient sleep in the future, for example during on night shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially comes down to wanting: you get a moment to sleep in the afternoon, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The primary task to consider, then, is consider why you want to nap. “Naps can be really helpful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted for reasons you cannot change – for instance, for a new parent, or you’re recovering from illness or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep physiologist. “However, if you take a nap because your sleep at night is unstable or unreliable, that can be a signal your body's sleep pressure is not where required. In such situations, napping can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the focus ought to remain a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
This implies that naps shouldn’t be long enough to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and preferably shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (contingent on what time you go to bed at night). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. In one of a prominent study about napping, researchers at Nasa discovered that astronauts had improvements of over 50% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in task performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this involved a six-minute sleep onset time). “I recommend using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – many individuals are asleep quickly,” explains a specialist. “There is plenty of advice around concerning the optimal amount of minutes, yet that often make people feel more stressed than anything else – and the worst thing one can do when trying to nod off is to be anxious.”
If you plan to sleep for longer, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “Research indicates it is preferable to have a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is sufficient to put you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – while if you nap for slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to finish a natural sleep cycle and should wake up feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you nap for an hour and a half, it may impact the quality of your sleep that night.”
Establishing the Right Sleep Space
As for precise methods, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals recommend employing the same protocol one would use to promote quality nighttime sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that you should just doze in a chair with ambient lighting is available – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to preserve your bed as the place you associate with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to will,” explains an expert. “Lacking any drowsiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and essentially tell yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination present to start the process initially. Personally, I can often snooze during the day and awaken on my own alarm-free, but what helps many individuals is to wait for a moment that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if your choices are limited – such as, if you’re trying to grab a quick nap on a train or at the office – it's acceptable to use some accessories. “When I’m working with footballers, I recommend that they don’t get used to napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will
