Tune into a few performance gurus, making it simple to convince yourself that dozing is a powerful tool: more than a band-aid following poor sleep, but a shortcut to improved recall, better spirits and possibly improved athletic performance. Premier League soccer players are all at it – along with concert pianists, fighters and business leaders. But if you don't have a special sleep space or a career that allows daytime sleep, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a short sleep to justify the effort? Does there exist a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you really guarantee you will arise feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Understanding The Nap Motivation
“Experts note three main reasons for napping for many people,” explains an expert sleep and circadian science professor. “The first is termed make-up sleep, which is what happens following insufficient sleep the night before. The second is prophylactic napping, where you are anticipating a sleep deficit coming up, for instance if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply boils down to wanting: you have a moment to sleep in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The primary task to undertake, therefore, is consider your nap motivation. “Naps can be genuinely useful when overnight rest gets interrupted due to causes beyond your control – such as, when you are a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering from sickness or intense exercise,” states a sleep expert. “However, if you’re napping since your sleep at night is unstable or unreliable, that’s often an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not where it needs to be. Under those circumstances, naps can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the focus ought to remain a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
This means that naps shouldn’t be long enough to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and preferably should not occur in the late afternoon (based on the time you retire overnight). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most-cited studies about napping, researchers at Nasa found that space travelers showed a boost of up to 54% in alertness and a 34% boost in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (technically, this included a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “My advice is setting a timer for half an hour or less – the majority fall asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a specialist. “There is plenty of advice around about the perfect length for sleeping, however, that can cause people to feel more anxious than anything else – and the worst thing you can possibly do when trying to nod off is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Studies indicates it's more effective to have a longer nap of one to one and a half hours compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the expert. “45 minutes is enough time to plunge you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel disoriented when you get up – while if you take it a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end of a sleep cycle and will probably awaken feeling more refreshed. Though if you're dozing for an hour and a half, it will affect how you sleep in the evening.”
Finding an Ideal Snooze Setting
Regarding specific techniques, advice differs. A few professionals recommend adopting similar routines one would use to encourage restful sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Some advise that one could merely snooze in a chair in whatever light is available – to avoid that groggy feeling and to maintain your bedroom as the space your brain links with *real* sleep. “Sleep is something really tricky to command,” explains an expert. “Lacking any drowsiness, it is more challenging to lie down and practically instruct yourself to nod off. There must be some sleep pressure there to bring the sleep on to begin with. Personally, I can often nap during the day and awaken on my own without an alarm, but what helps most folks is to look for a time that they’re naturally slightly tired and just gently relax into it.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when options are scarce – such as, if attempting to squeeze in a quick nap while traveling or at the office – it is perfectly fine with bringing a few tools. “When I’m working with footballers, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
