Listen to plenty of performance gurus, making it tempting to believe that dozing is a secret weapon: rather than a band-aid following poor sleep, but a shortcut towards enhanced cognition, better spirits and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Elite footballers do it regularly – as do professional piano players, UFC champions & high-profile executives. However, if you lack a room for napping or employment that permits daytime sleep, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a short sleep to justify the kerfuffle? Is there a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you will arise feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Identifying The Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three primary motivations for taking a nap among most adults,” explains an expert sleep science researcher. “Firstly, there's what we call make-up sleep, which is what you do following poor sleep overnight. The second is prophylactic napping, where you are anticipating a sleep deficit coming up, such as when working on night shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which basically is about desire: there is a chance to doze during the day, and it feels nice to nap.”
The initial step to do, so, is to examine your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when overnight rest is being disrupted because of factors outside your control – such as, when you are a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” states a sleep expert. “Yet when you’re napping because your sleep at night feels fragile or poor, that’s often an indicator your need for sleep is not as strong as it should be. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the problem, instead of the fix. Employ naps as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the main goal should still be a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
This implies that napping must not be long enough to disrupt your overnight rest, and preferably should not occur post-3 p.m. (based on when you retire overnight). How long is sensible? Advice differs. Among the most-cited studies on the subject, researchers at Nasa discovered that space travelers had a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in task performance after a 26-minute nap (technically, this counted a six-minute falling asleep phase). “My advice is setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – the majority doze off within 10 minutes,” notes a specialist. “You'll find much guidance out there about the ideal number of minutes, yet that often lead individuals to become more worried above all – and the most counterproductive thing you can do when attempting to fall asleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that promotes that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Research indicates it is preferable to opt for a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” explains the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is enough time to send you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel disoriented when you get up – whereas if you nap for a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing of a sleep cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more alert. However, if you nap for an hour and a half, it can influence the quality of your sleep that night.”
Creating the Perfect Snooze Setting
As for exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. Certain specialists recommend employing comparable habits one would use to encourage restful sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and as much darkness as possible. Others suggest that you should merely snooze on the sofa in the existing light is available – to avoid sleep inertia and to preserve your bed as the environment your mind associates with proper sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to force,” explains a specialist. “Lacking any sleepiness, it becomes harder to recline and practically instruct yourself to go to sleep. There must be some drive there to start the process to begin with. I can usually take a nap in full light and naturally wake up without a timer, however, what assists a lot of people is to wait for a moment that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and when you have few options – for instance, when aiming to fit in a quick nap on a train or at the office – there’s nothing wrong with bringing sleep aids. “Coaching footballers, I suggest that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
