Listen to a few performance gurus, and it’s tempting to think that a nap is a powerful tool: rather than a sticking plaster following poor sleep, but a route to improved recall, better spirits and perhaps quicker running times. Professional athletes do it regularly – along with concert pianists, fighters and high-profile executives. However, if you don't have a room for napping or a career that permits frequent naps, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the effort? Does there exist a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you will arise feeling better, instead of groggy?
Understanding The Nap Motivation
“We can identify three key drivers for taking a nap for many people,” explains a professor of sleep science specialist. “One is termed compensatory napping, that is the action you take when you’ve had poor sleep overnight. Another is pre-emptive sleep, where you are preparing for a sleep deficit coming up, for example during overnight shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply comes down to the wish: there is an opportunity to nap in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The initial step to undertake, so, is to think about your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when overnight rest is being disrupted because of factors you cannot change – for example, for a new parent, or if you are healing from sickness or strenuous activity,” states a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you nap because your night sleep is unstable or broken, that’s often an indicator your sleep drive is not where required. In such situations, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods for temporary issues – the priority ought to remain a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This implies that napping must not be long enough to affect your nighttime sleep, and best shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (depending on what time you go to bed in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. In one of a prominent study about napping, researchers at Nasa noted that space travelers showed improvements of over 50% in alertness plus a 34% rise in performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this counted an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “My advice is setting an alarm for half an hour or less – most people are asleep in under ten minutes,” says a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of recommendations regarding the ideal number of time, however, that can lead individuals to become more worried above all – and the least helpful action one can do when attempting to get to sleep is worry about it.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “Research indicates it's more effective to opt for an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” says the professor. “45 minutes is long enough to put you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – however, if you take it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be on the end a full cycle and will probably wake up feeling more refreshed. However, if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it may impact how you sleep later that night.”
Establishing the Right Nap Environment
When it comes to exact methodologies, recommendations vary. Some experts propose employing similar routines you use to foster restful sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that it's fine to just doze on a couch with ambient lighting is available – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to preserve your bedroom as the space your brain links with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to will,” notes a specialist. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it is tougher to lie down and essentially tell yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be some sleep pressure available to initiate sleep initially. I can usually take a nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally without a timer, but what helps a lot of people is to look for an instance where they feel naturally slightly tired and just gently allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and should options are scarce – for instance, if attempting to fit in a quick nap during a commute or in a work pod – it's acceptable to use a few tools. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
