Hear a few self-improvement gurus, and you'll be easy to believe that napping is a superpower: rather than a quick fix after a bad night’s sleep, but a route towards enhanced cognition, better spirits and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Premier League footballers do it regularly – and so are professional piano players, fighters & business leaders. Yet, when you don't have a dedicated nap-room or employment that permits frequent naps, are there *really* sufficient advantages to a quick nap to justify the hassle? Does there exist a dependable method to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you will arise feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Understanding The Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three main reasons for daytime sleep in the adult population,” explains a professor of sleep science researcher. “Firstly, there's termed recovery napping, which is what happens when you’ve had a lack of sleep the previous night. Secondly, there's pre-emptive sleep, when you are pre-empting insufficient sleep ahead, such as if you’re working overnight shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which essentially comes down to desire: there is a moment to sleep during the day, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The initial step to do, so, is to think about why you want to nap. “Naps can be really helpful when nighttime sleep is disturbed due to causes beyond your control – such as, when you are a parent of a newborn, or recovering after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep physiologist. “But if you’re napping because your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or unreliable, that is frequently a signal your sleep drive is not where it should be. In those cases, naps can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Use napping as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the focus must always be a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
This means that napping shouldn’t be too extended to affect your sleep at night, and preferably are not recommended in the late afternoon (depending on when you retire at night). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. In one of the most-cited studies about napping, space agency scientists discovered that astronauts had improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% increase in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this counted an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “My advice is using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – most people doze off quickly,” explains a sleep expert. “You'll find much advice around about the ideal number of minutes, but that tends to make people feel more stressed than anything else – and the least helpful action you can possibly do when trying to nod off is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, bypass the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “Studies would say it’s better to have a longer nap of one to one and a half hours rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to send you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel disoriented when you get up – however, if you nap for a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to be completing a natural sleep cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more rejuvenated. But if you’re sleeping for a long period, it may impact the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Creating an Ideal Snooze Setting
Regarding specific techniques, advice differs. Some experts recommend adopting the same protocol you use to promote a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to simply nap in a chair in the existing light is present – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the space you associate with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to command,” explains an expert. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and basically instruct yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some drive present to bring the sleep on initially. For me, it's possible to nap in full light and naturally wake up alarm-free, however, what assists a lot of people is to wait for an instance where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when your choices are limited – for example, if attempting to grab a quick nap during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong to employ sleep aids. “Coaching footballers, I recommend that they not rely on their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
