Hear plenty of performance experts, making it tempting to think that dozing is a superpower: more than a band-aid following restless night, but a shortcut to enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and maybe quicker running times. Elite soccer players do it regularly – and so are concert pianists, fighters & high-profile executives. Yet, when you don't have a room for napping or employment that permits daytime sleep, is it *truly* enough benefits to a quick nap for it to be worth the hassle? Does there exist a dependable method to nod off promptly? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Understanding Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three main reasons for napping for many people,” explains a professor of sleep science researcher. “The first is termed recovery napping, that is what you do when you’ve had insufficient sleep overnight. The second is pre-emptive sleep, which involves anticipating insufficient sleep in the future, for example when working overnight shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which basically comes down to the wish: you get a chance to nap in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The initial step to undertake, therefore, is consider why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted for reasons beyond your control – for example, when you are caring for an infant, or you’re recovering after being ill or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep expert. “But if you take a nap as your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or broken, that is frequently a sign your sleep drive is not as strong as it needs to be. Under those circumstances, napping can become part of the problem, instead of the fix. Employ naps for brief periods to address immediate needs – the focus ought to remain a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
This implies that napping shouldn’t be too extended to interfere with your overnight rest, and preferably should not occur post-3 p.m. (depending on the time you sleep in the evening). What duration is wise? Advice differs. Among the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, experts noted that space travelers had a boost of up to 54% in alertness and a 34% boost in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this counted a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “My advice is setting an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals fall asleep within 10 minutes,” explains a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of advice around about the perfect length for sleeping, however, that can lead individuals to become more worried above all – and the worst thing one can do when attempting to nod off is to stress over it.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, bypass the 45-60 minute window that induces sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling when you awaken. “The science would say it's more effective to take an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” says the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is sufficient to send you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel sluggish when you get up – however, if you take it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to be completing a full cycle and should get up feeling more alert. However, if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it will affect how you sleep later that night.”
Finding the Right Sleep Space
As for specific techniques, advice differs. Some experts recommend adopting comparable habits you use to encourage restful sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and minimal light as is feasible. Others suggest that it's fine to just doze on the sofa in whatever light is present – both to discourage sleep inertia and to preserve your bed as the environment your brain links with proper sleep. “Napping is quite challenging to force,” says an expert. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it becomes harder to recline and practically tell yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some drive there to initiate sleep to begin with. I can usually nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up without a timer, but what helps many individuals is to anticipate a time when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when your choices are limited – for example, if you’re trying to grab 40 winks during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong to use sleep aids. “Coaching footballers, I suggest that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
