Tune into a few performance gurus, making it tempting to convince yourself that dozing is a superpower: rather than a quick fix after a bad night’s sleep, but a route to improved recall, better spirits and maybe a faster 5k run time. Premier League soccer players are all at it – as do professional piano players, fighters & media moguls. Yet, when you lack a room for napping or employment that permits daytime sleep, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye to justify the hassle? Is there a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling better, not worse?
Exploring The Drive to Snooze
“There are three key drivers for napping among most adults,” says a professor of sleep and circadian science researcher. “One is known as compensatory napping, which is what you do after experiencing poor sleep the night before. Secondly, there's pre-emptive sleep, which involves preparing for a sleep deficit ahead, for example during graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which basically is about wanting: you get an opportunity to nap in the afternoon, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The primary task to consider, so, is to examine your reason for napping. “Naps can be truly beneficial when overnight rest is disturbed because of factors outside your control – for example, when you are caring for an infant, or if you are healing from sickness or intense exercise,” states a sleep expert. “But if you take a nap since your night sleep feels fragile or broken, that is frequently an indicator your need for sleep is not at the level it should be. In those cases, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods for temporary issues – the focus must always be a robust and regular night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This implies that napping shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your nighttime sleep, and ideally shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (based on when you sleep in the evening). How long is sensible? Advice differs. Among the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa discovered that crew members showed a boost of up to 54% in alertness plus a 34% rise in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this counted a six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend setting an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – most people are asleep quickly,” notes a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of guidance out there about the optimal amount of time, but that tends to cause people to feel more anxious than anything – and the most counterproductive thing you can possibly do when attempting to nod off is worry about it.”
Should you decide 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 would say it is preferable to opt for a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the expert. “45 minutes is long enough to plunge you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel groggy upon awakening – whereas if you take it slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be on the end a full cycle and are likely to get up feeling more alert. Though if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it may impact your sleep later that night.”
Creating the Right Snooze Setting
As for specific techniques, advice differs. Some experts recommend employing the same protocol you’d use to promote quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that one could just doze on the sofa with ambient lighting is present – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to maintain your bedroom as the place you associate with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to will,” explains a sleep coach. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to lie down and essentially tell yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some sleep pressure available to bring the sleep on in the first place. I can usually take a nap during the day and awaken on my own alarm-free, however, what assists most folks is to wait for a time that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when options are scarce – for example, when aiming to squeeze in some shut-eye during a commute or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong to employ sleep aids. “In my work with elite athletes, I recommend that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
