Listen to a few self-improvement gurus, and it’s tempting to believe that a nap is a secret weapon: more than a band-aid after restless night, but a path towards a better memory, better spirits and perhaps improved athletic performance. Professional footballers swear by it – as do professional piano players, fighters & media moguls. But if you lack a dedicated nap-room or a career that allows frequent naps, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the effort? Is there a dependable method to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you will arise feeling better, instead of groggy?
Identifying The Nap Motivation
“Experts note three key drivers for daytime sleep in the adult population,” explains an expert sleep science specialist. “The first is known as recovery napping, that is the action you take when you’ve had poor sleep overnight. The second is pre-emptive sleep, when you are preparing for a sleep deficit coming up, for instance if you’re working on night shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically boils down to the wish: you have a chance to nap in the daytime, and it feels nice to do it.”
The first thing to consider, therefore, is to examine your nap motivation. “Naps can be truly beneficial when overnight rest is disturbed due to causes outside your control – for instance, when you are caring for an infant, or if you are healing from illness or intense exercise,” says a sleep specialist. “But if you take a nap because your night sleep seems unreliable or broken, that is frequently a sign your need for sleep is not at the level it needs to be. In such situations, naps can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Use napping for brief periods to address immediate needs – the focus ought to remain a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Ideal Nap Length
Therefore that daytime sleep shouldn’t be long enough to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and preferably shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (contingent on what time you go to bed overnight). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, space agency scientists noted that crew members experienced improvements of over 50% in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in task performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this counted a six-minute nodding-off period). “My advice is setting a timer for half an hour or less – the majority are asleep in under ten minutes,” says a specialist. “You'll find much guidance out there concerning the ideal number for sleeping, yet that often make people feel more stressed than anything else – and the least helpful action you can possibly do when attempting to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes sleep grogginess, that foggy state when you wake. “Studies indicates it’s better to have a longer nap of one to one and a half hours compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is long enough to send you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel groggy when you get up – however, if you extend it a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing a natural sleep cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more alert. However, if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it can influence how you sleep later that night.”
Creating an Ideal Snooze Setting
As for precise methods, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals propose using the same protocol one would use to foster a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as possible. Some advise that you should simply nap in a chair with ambient lighting happens to be around – both to discourage sleep inertia and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the environment your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to will,” says a sleep coach. “Without any sleepiness, it is more challenging to get comfortable and essentially tell yourself to go to sleep. There must be some drive there to bring the sleep on in the first place. I can usually snooze in full light and awaken on my own without an alarm, however, what assists many individuals is to look for a time that they’re naturally slightly tired and just gently relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should your choices are limited – for instance, if you’re trying to squeeze in 40 winks while traveling or at the office – there’s nothing wrong to use sleep aids. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
