Hear enough performance podcasters, and you'll be easy to convince yourself that dozing is a superpower: not just a sticking plaster following a bad night’s sleep, but a route to improved recall, better spirits and possibly quicker running times. Elite athletes swear by it – and so are professional piano players, UFC champions and high-profile executives. Yet, when you don't have a room for napping or a job that allows daytime sleep, are there *really* sufficient advantages to a short sleep for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Does there exist a reliable way to nod off promptly? And can you honestly promise you will get up feeling refreshed, not worse?
Identifying The Drive to Snooze
“There are three key drivers for napping for many people,” explains a professor of circadian rhythm specialist. “Firstly, there's known as make-up sleep, essentially the action you take following a lack of sleep overnight. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, when you are preparing for insufficient sleep in the future, for instance if you’re working overnight shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which simply boils down to wanting: you get an opportunity to sleep in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to indulge.”
The initial step to do, so, is to think about your reason for napping. “Napping can be really helpful when night sleeping gets interrupted due to causes outside your control – for instance, if you’re a new parent, or if you are healing after being ill or intense exercise,” states a sleep specialist. “However, if you’re napping as your night sleep seems unreliable or poor, that is frequently an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not where it needs to be. In those cases, napping can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Use napping as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the focus should still be a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Nap Duration
Therefore that naps must not be too extended to disrupt your overnight rest, and best are not recommended after about 3pm (contingent on when you go to bed at night). What duration is wise? Advice differs. From a prominent study on the subject, researchers at Nasa discovered that space travelers experienced a boost of up to 54% in alertness and a 34% boost in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this counted a six-minute long nodding-off period). “I recommend using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – many individuals doze off within 10 minutes,” explains a specialist. “There is plenty of guidance out there about the perfect length of minutes, but that tends to lead individuals to become more worried than anything – and the most counterproductive thing you can do when trying to fall asleep is worry about it.”
If you’re going to nap for a longer period, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling when you awaken. “Research suggests it’s better to opt for a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” explains the expert. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to plunge you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel groggy when you wake up – whereas if you take it a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end of a sleep cycle and should get up feeling more refreshed. But if you nap for an hour and a half, it can influence your sleep later that night.”
Establishing an Ideal Snooze Setting
As for precise methods, advice differs. Certain specialists propose using comparable habits one would use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and minimal light as you can manage. Others suggest that it's fine to simply nap on the sofa with ambient lighting happens to be around – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to maintain your bed as the environment your brain links with nighttime rest. “Sleep is something really tricky to force,” notes a sleep coach. “Without any sleepiness, it becomes harder to recline and basically instruct yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some drive there to initiate sleep in the first place. Personally, I can often snooze in full light and awaken on my own without an alarm, but what helps many individuals is to anticipate a moment where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when you have few options – for example, if you’re trying to fit in 40 winks while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong to employ a few tools. “In my work with elite athletes, I suggest that they don’t get used to napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
