Tune into plenty of self-improvement podcasters, and you'll be tempting to think that dozing is a secret weapon: not just a quick fix after restless night, but a path towards enhanced cognition, improved mood and possibly a faster 5k run time. Elite soccer players are all at it – along with professional piano players, UFC champions and high-profile executives. Yet, when you don't have a dedicated nap-room or a job that allows frequent naps, are there *really* enough benefits to a quick nap for it to be worth the effort? Is there a dependable method to fall asleep fast? And can you honestly promise you will arise feeling improved, not worse?
Identifying Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three primary motivations for daytime sleep for many people,” notes an expert sleep science researcher. “One is what we call recovery napping, which is what you do following poor sleep overnight. Another is prophylactic napping, where you are anticipating sleep loss in the future, such as if you’re working graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which essentially boils down to wanting: you have a chance to sleep in the daytime, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The primary task to undertake, so, is to examine your reason for napping. “Napping can be really helpful when night sleeping gets interrupted for reasons beyond your control – for example, when you are caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from illness or strenuous activity,” says a sleep specialist. “However, if you take a nap since your night sleep feels fragile or unreliable, that’s often an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not where required. Under those circumstances, naps can become a contributing factor, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods for temporary issues – the focus should still be a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This means that napping ought not to be too extended to affect your overnight rest, and ideally shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (based on when you retire in the evening). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. From the most referenced research about napping, researchers at Nasa discovered that space travelers experienced improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% boost in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this included a six-minute long nodding-off period). “I recommend setting a timer for half an hour or less – many individuals doze off in under ten minutes,” says a sleep expert. “You'll find much guidance out there about the perfect length for sleeping, yet that often cause people to feel more stressed than anything else – and the least helpful action one can do when trying to nod off is to be anxious.”
If you plan to sleep for longer, avoid the 45-60 minute window that encourages that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Studies suggests it is preferable to opt for a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” says the professor. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to put you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel disoriented upon awakening – while if you extend it a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing of a sleep cycle and should get up feeling more refreshed. However, if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it may impact your sleep later that night.”
Creating the Right Nap Environment
As for precise methods, advice differs. Certain specialists recommend adopting comparable habits one would use to promote restful sleep: a silent space, a cozy bed and minimal light as possible. Some advise that you should merely snooze on the sofa in the existing light is available – to avoid that groggy feeling and to “protect” your bed as the space your mind associates with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to will,” explains a sleep coach. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it is more challenging to get comfortable and essentially tell yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination available to start the process to begin with. For me, it's possible to snooze in full light and awaken on my own without an alarm, but what helps a lot of people is to wait for a moment when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly ease into sleep.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if your choices are limited – for example, if attempting to fit in 40 winks while traveling or at the office – it is perfectly fine to use a few tools. “In my work with elite athletes, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
