Tune into a few productivity gurus, and you'll be easy to believe that napping is a powerful tool: not just a sticking plaster after restless night, but a path to enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and perhaps quicker running times. Elite footballers swear by it – and so are concert pianists, mixed martial artists & high-profile executives. But if you don't have a special sleep space or a job that permits regular snoozing, are there *really* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Can you find a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you honestly promise you will arise feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Understanding Your Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three primary motivations for taking a nap among most adults,” notes an expert sleep science professor. “One is what we call make-up sleep, that is the action you take following insufficient sleep the previous night. Another is preparatory napping, which involves preparing for a sleep deficit ahead, for instance when working overnight shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply comes down to desire: you have a moment to nap during the day, and it feels nice to do it.”
The initial step to undertake, so, is to think about your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is disturbed because of factors outside your control – such as, for caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from illness or intense exercise,” states a sleep specialist. “However, if you nap since your sleep at night feels fragile or unreliable, that is frequently a signal your need for sleep is not where it should be. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the problem, not the solution. Employ naps as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the main goal should still be a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This means that napping shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and preferably are not recommended in the late afternoon (based on what time you sleep overnight). How long is sensible? Advice differs. Among the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, experts discovered that crew members showed up to a 54% increase in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in performance after a 26-minute nap (in detail, this included a six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – most people fall asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “There is plenty of advice around about the perfect length for sleeping, however, that can cause people to feel more stressed than anything else – and the least helpful action you can do when attempting to nod off is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “Research would say it's more effective to take a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” notes the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to put you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel groggy when you wake up – whereas if you nap for a little longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to be completing of a sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more refreshed. But if you're dozing for a long period, it will affect the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Finding the Right Sleep Space
Regarding specific techniques, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals suggest adopting the same protocol you use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that one could just doze on a couch in the existing light happens to be around – both to discourage sleep inertia and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the space you associate with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to will,” says a specialist. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it becomes harder to lie down and basically tell yourself to fall asleep. There must be some drive present to start the process to begin with. For me, it's possible to nap in full light and awaken on my own without a timer, however, what assists many individuals is to look for a time where they feel naturally slightly tired and then simply allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should options are scarce – such as, when aiming to grab 40 winks during a commute or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine to use sleep aids. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will
