Hear enough productivity gurus, and it’s easy to believe that napping is a powerful tool: not just a sticking plaster after a bad night’s sleep, but a path to improved recall, improved mood and perhaps improved athletic performance. Professional footballers swear by it – as do professional piano players, fighters & high-profile executives. However, if you lack a special sleep space or employment that encourages frequent naps, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a quick nap to justify the hassle? Is there a reliable way to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, not worse?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“There are three primary motivations for daytime sleep for many people,” notes a professor of sleep science researcher. “The first is known as compensatory napping, which is what you do after experiencing poor sleep the previous night. Another is preparatory napping, which involves anticipating insufficient sleep coming up, such as during overnight shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically is about wanting: you have a moment to sleep in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The initial step to consider, therefore, is to examine your nap motivation. “Napping can be truly beneficial when overnight rest gets interrupted for reasons you cannot change – for instance, when you are caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep expert. “However, if you nap because your night sleep feels fragile or poor, that can be an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as it needs to be. In such situations, naps can become part of the issue, not the solution. Use napping as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the main goal should still be a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This implies that daytime sleep must not be too extended to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and preferably shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (depending on what time you sleep at night). How long is sensible? Advice differs. From a prominent study about napping, researchers at Nasa found that astronauts experienced a boost of up to 54% in vigilance plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (in detail, this counted an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “My advice is setting a timer for half an hour or less – the majority doze off in under ten minutes,” says a specialist. “You'll find much recommendations about the ideal number for sleeping, but that tends to lead individuals to become more worried above all – and the least helpful action you can possibly do while aiming to nod off is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that encourages that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “Studies would say it is preferable to take an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” says the sleep scientist. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to put you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – whereas if you take it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing of a sleep cycle and will probably wake up feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you nap for a long period, it will affect how you sleep later that night.”
Establishing the Right Nap Environment
When it comes to exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. Certain specialists recommend using the same protocol you’d use to promote a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as you can manage. Some advise that one could simply nap in a chair with ambient lighting is present – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the place your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to force,” explains an expert. “Lacking any sleepiness, it becomes harder to recline and essentially instruct yourself to fall asleep. There must be a natural inclination available to bring the sleep on initially. For me, it's possible to nap in full light and wake up naturally without a timer, but what helps most folks is to wait for an instance that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should your choices are limited – such as, when aiming to squeeze in some shut-eye while traveling or at the office – it's acceptable to employ some accessories. “Coaching footballers, I suggest that they not rely on their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
