Hear a few performance experts, and it’s simple to think that dozing is a superpower: not just a band-aid following a bad night’s sleep, but a route to improved recall, improved mood and perhaps improved athletic performance. Premier League athletes are all at it – as do musicians, fighters & high-profile executives. However, if you don't have a dedicated nap-room or a career that encourages daytime sleep, are there *really* enough benefits to a short sleep for it to be worth the effort? Does there exist a reliable way to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling better, rather than worse?
Identifying Your Reasons for Napping
“There are three primary motivations for taking a nap for many people,” notes an expert sleep science professor. “One is termed compensatory napping, which is what you do when you’ve had a lack of sleep the previous night. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, where you are anticipating sleep loss ahead, for instance during overnight shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply boils down to wanting: you have a chance to nap during the day, and it feels nice to nap.”
The initial step to undertake, then, is consider your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted for reasons beyond your control – for example, when you are a new parent, or recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” says a sleep specialist. “Yet when you’re napping because your night sleep seems unreliable or broken, that’s often an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as it should be. In such situations, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the focus must always be a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
This implies that napping ought not to be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your sleep at night, and best shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (contingent on the time you go to bed overnight). How long is sensible? Advice differs. Among the most referenced research on the subject, researchers at Nasa found that astronauts had improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% boost in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this involved a six-minute sleep onset time). “I’d suggest setting a timer for half an hour or less – many individuals are asleep in under ten minutes,” explains a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of advice around about the perfect length for sleeping, yet that often cause people to feel more anxious than anything – and the worst thing you can possibly do when attempting to nod off is worry about it.”
If you plan to sleep for longer, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces sleep grogginess, that foggy state when you awaken. “Studies indicates it's more effective to opt for a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to plunge you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you wake up – however, if you nap for a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be completing a full cycle and should get up feeling more refreshed. Though if you nap for a long period, it can influence your sleep later that night.”
Creating an Ideal Nap Environment
Regarding exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals propose adopting comparable habits you use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that one could merely snooze on a couch in whatever light is present – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bed as the place your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to command,” notes an expert. “Without any sleepiness, it is tougher to get comfortable and practically command yourself to nod off. You need some sleep pressure present to start the process in the first place. For me, it's possible to nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up without an alarm, though, what aids a lot of people is to anticipate a time when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and calmly relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should options are scarce – for instance, if attempting to squeeze in some shut-eye while traveling or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine with bringing sleep aids. “Coaching footballers, I recommend that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
