Tune into plenty of productivity podcasters, making it simple to think that napping is a secret weapon: more than a quick fix after a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut towards enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and maybe improved athletic performance. Elite athletes do it regularly – and so are professional piano players, mixed martial artists & business leaders. However, if you haven’t got a special sleep space or employment that permits frequent naps, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a short sleep for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Is there a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling better, rather than worse?
Understanding Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three key drivers for taking a nap among most adults,” says a professor of circadian rhythm professor. “The first is known as make-up sleep, which is what you do after experiencing a lack of sleep the night before. Secondly, there's pre-emptive sleep, when you are pre-empting a sleep deficit in the future, for example during overnight shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically is about the wish: you have a moment to nap in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The first thing to undertake, therefore, is to think about your reason for napping. “Naps can be really helpful when nighttime sleep is disturbed due to causes outside your control – for example, if you’re caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from sickness or intense exercise,” explains a sleep specialist. “But if you’re napping since your nighttime sleep is unstable or broken, that is frequently a signal your body's sleep pressure is not where required. In those cases, napping can become part of the issue, rather than the answer. Use napping for brief periods to address immediate needs – the priority must always be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Nap Duration
Therefore that napping must not be sufficiently lengthy to affect your nighttime sleep, and preferably shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (depending on when you go to bed at night). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. From the most referenced research about napping, researchers at Nasa discovered that astronauts showed a boost of up to 54% in alertness and a 34% increase in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this included a six-minute nodding-off period). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority are asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a specialist. “You'll find much guidance out there about the optimal amount of minutes, yet that often lead individuals to become more worried above all – and the most counterproductive thing you can possibly do when trying to fall asleep is worry about it.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “The science indicates it's more effective to have a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” says the sleep scientist. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to put you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel groggy when you get up – while if you nap for a little longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to finish a natural sleep cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more alert. But if you nap for an hour and a half, it can influence your sleep later that night.”
Establishing an Ideal Nap Environment
As for precise methods, recommendations vary. Certain specialists recommend using similar routines you’d use to foster restful sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Some advise that one could just doze on a couch in the existing light is available – to prevent that groggy feeling and to “protect” your bedroom as the environment your brain links with nighttime rest. “Napping is something really tricky to command,” explains a sleep coach. “Lacking the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to get comfortable and practically command yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some drive available to bring the sleep on to begin with. Personally, I can often nap in full light and naturally wake up alarm-free, though, what aids a lot of people is to anticipate a time that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if your choices are limited – such as, when aiming to grab some shut-eye while traveling or in a work pod – it's acceptable to employ sleep aids. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I recommend that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
