Tune into plenty of productivity podcasters, and you'll be simple to believe that napping is a secret weapon: more than a sticking plaster following a bad night’s sleep, but a path to a better memory, a brighter outlook and possibly a faster 5k run time. Elite soccer players swear by it – as do professional piano players, fighters & high-profile executives. Yet, when you haven’t got a special sleep space or employment that allows daytime sleep, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a quick nap for it to be worth the effort? Can you find a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling improved, rather than worse?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“We can identify three main reasons for napping among most adults,” explains a professor of sleep science professor. “One is what we call make-up sleep, essentially the action you take following a lack of sleep the night before. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, where you are preparing for sleep loss in the future, for instance when working overnight shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which basically is about desire: you get a moment to sleep during the day, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The first thing to consider, then, is to examine your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted due to causes beyond your control – such as, when you are caring for an infant, or recovering after being ill or strenuous activity,” states a sleep specialist. “However, if you nap because your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or broken, that’s often an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not at the level it needs to be. In those cases, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, instead of the fix. Employ naps for brief periods to address immediate needs – the focus must always be a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
Therefore that naps shouldn’t be long enough to interfere with your overnight rest, and best shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (contingent on what time you sleep in the evening). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most-cited studies on the subject, space agency scientists noted that space travelers experienced up to a 54% increase in attentiveness and a 34% boost in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this involved a six-minute falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority are asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “There is plenty of guidance out there regarding the ideal number of time, yet that often lead individuals to become more anxious than anything else – and the least helpful action you can possibly do while aiming to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, bypass the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “Studies suggests it is preferable to take a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” says the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to put you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel disoriented when you wake up – however, if you nap for a little longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to be completing of a sleep cycle and should get up feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you nap for an hour and a half, it may impact how you sleep in the evening.”
Establishing an Ideal Sleep Space
When it comes to specific techniques, advice differs. A few professionals suggest adopting similar routines you use to promote a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and minimal light as is feasible. Some advise that one could just doze in a chair in whatever light happens to be around – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the space your brain links with proper sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to command,” explains an expert. “Without the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to lie down and basically instruct yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be some sleep pressure available to initiate sleep to begin with. I can usually take a nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally without a timer, though, what aids a lot of people is to wait for an instance that they’re naturally slightly tired and calmly relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should your choices are limited – for instance, when aiming to grab 40 winks during a commute or at the office – there’s nothing wrong with bringing sleep aids. “In my work with elite athletes, I recommend that they not rely on their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
