Listen to enough self-improvement podcasters, and it’s easy to think that dozing is a powerful tool: more than a sticking plaster following a bad night’s sleep, but a route to enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and perhaps quicker running times. Premier League footballers are all at it – as do professional piano players, UFC champions and business leaders. But if you lack a room for napping or a career that encourages frequent naps, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a short sleep for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Does there exist a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling improved, rather than worse?
Exploring Your Nap Motivation
“There are three key drivers for daytime sleep for many people,” notes a leading circadian rhythm professor. “One is known as recovery napping, which is the action you take following poor sleep overnight. The second is prophylactic napping, which involves preparing for a sleep deficit in the future, such as if you’re working overnight shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially comes down to desire: there is a chance to nap during the day, and it feels nice to do it.”
The primary task to undertake, so, is to think about why you want to nap. “Napping can be really helpful when overnight rest gets interrupted for reasons beyond your control – for example, when you are a new parent, or recovering from sickness or intense exercise,” explains a sleep specialist. “But if you’re napping as your nighttime sleep is unstable or broken, that’s often a signal your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as required. In such situations, naps can become part of the problem, not the solution. Employ naps as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the focus ought to remain a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
This implies that naps must not be long enough to disrupt your nighttime sleep, and preferably shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (contingent on what time you retire in the evening). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most referenced research on the subject, experts discovered that crew members had improvements of over 50% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this counted a six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – many individuals doze off within 10 minutes,” says a sleep coach. “There is plenty of guidance out there regarding the optimal amount of minutes, yet that often cause people to feel more worried than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing you can possibly do when attempting to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to nap for a longer period, bypass the 45-60 minute window that induces sleep grogginess, that foggy state when you awaken. “Research indicates it's more effective to opt for a longer nap of one to one and a half hours rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the sleep scientist. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to send you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel disoriented when you get up – while if you extend it a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to finish a full cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more alert. However, if you nap for a long period, it can influence how you sleep later that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Snooze Setting
When it comes to specific techniques, recommendations vary. A few professionals recommend using similar routines you use to foster restful sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and minimal light as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that you should just doze on a couch in whatever light is available – both to discourage sleep inertia and to “protect” your bedroom as the place you associate with nighttime rest. “Sleep is notoriously difficult to will,” explains a specialist. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to recline and practically instruct yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some sleep pressure available to bring the sleep on initially. Personally, I can often nap during the day and wake up naturally alarm-free, however, what assists many individuals is to look for an instance when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should you have few options – for example, if you’re trying to grab 40 winks while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable to use sleep aids. “In my work with footballers, I recommend that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
