Listen to enough performance experts, making it easy to think that dozing is a secret weapon: more than a quick fix following restless night, but a route to improved recall, improved mood and possibly quicker running times. Elite soccer players do it regularly – and so are professional piano players, fighters and high-profile executives. But if you don't have a special sleep space or a career that permits frequent naps, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a quick nap for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Can you find a dependable method to fall asleep fast? And can you truly ensure you will arise feeling better, rather than worse?
Exploring Your Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three main reasons for napping among most adults,” notes an expert sleep science professor. “The first is known as make-up sleep, that is what you do following poor sleep the night before. Another is preparatory napping, which involves preparing for sleep loss coming up, for instance when working graveyard shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically boils down to the wish: you have an opportunity to doze in the daytime, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The initial step to do, so, is to think about your reason for napping. “Naps can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep gets interrupted because of factors you cannot change – such as, if you’re caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from illness or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep physiologist. “However, if you nap as your night sleep feels fragile or unreliable, that can be a signal your sleep drive is not where it should be. In those cases, naps can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Use napping as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the focus must always be a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Perfect Nap Duration
Therefore that naps ought not to be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your overnight rest, and best should not occur after about 3pm (contingent on what time you retire at night). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. In one of a prominent study about napping, experts discovered that astronauts showed improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% boost in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this counted a six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – the majority are asleep within 10 minutes,” explains a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of guidance out there about the ideal number for sleeping, yet that often make people feel more anxious above all – and the least helpful action one can do when attempting to fall asleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Research suggests it's more effective to take an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” explains the expert. “45 minutes is sufficient to plunge you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel sluggish when you get up – whereas if you nap for a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and should awaken feeling more refreshed. But if you’re sleeping for a long period, it may impact how you sleep that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Snooze Setting
As for specific techniques, advice differs. Certain specialists propose using the same protocol one would use to promote a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a supportive surface and as much darkness as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to simply nap in a chair in the existing light is available – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the place your brain links with proper sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to will,” says a sleep coach. “Lacking any drowsiness, it is tougher to recline and essentially tell yourself to go to sleep. You need some drive present to start the process initially. Personally, I can often nap in full light and wake up naturally alarm-free, though, what aids many individuals is to anticipate an instance when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and calmly allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and if options are scarce – for instance, when aiming to squeeze in a quick nap while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine to employ a few tools. “In my work with footballers, I advise that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, as they’re going to have|they will
