Tune into enough performance gurus, and you'll be easy to convince yourself that dozing is a secret weapon: more than a sticking plaster after poor sleep, but a path towards a better memory, improved mood and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Elite footballers do it regularly – as do professional piano players, mixed martial artists & business leaders. However, if you haven’t got a special sleep space or employment that permits frequent naps, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a quick nap to merit the kerfuffle? Can you find a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? And can you honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling better, rather than worse?
Understanding The Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three main reasons for taking a nap among most adults,” says an expert sleep science professor. “One is termed compensatory napping, essentially what happens after experiencing a lack of sleep the night before. Another is preparatory napping, which involves pre-empting a sleep deficit in the future, such as when working overnight shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which essentially is about the wish: you have a chance to nap in the daytime, and it feels nice to nap.”
The primary task to do, therefore, is consider why you want to nap. “Naps can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep is disturbed due to causes beyond your control – for instance, if you’re a new parent, or recovering after being ill or intense exercise,” explains a sleep specialist. “But if you’re napping as your sleep at night is unstable or poor, that’s often an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not where required. In such situations, naps can become a contributing factor, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the main goal must always be a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Perfect Nap Duration
This means that napping shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to affect your nighttime sleep, and preferably shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (contingent on when you retire at night). How long is sensible? Advice differs. Among a prominent study on the subject, experts noted that crew members showed up to a 54% increase in attentiveness and a 34% increase in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this included a six-minute sleep onset time). “My advice is using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – many individuals doze off within 10 minutes,” explains a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of recommendations about the ideal number of time, yet that often make people feel more worried than anything else – and the least helpful action you can do while aiming to fall asleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, bypass the 45-60 minute window that promotes sleep grogginess, that foggy state when you awaken. “The science indicates it's more effective to opt for an extended nap of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” says the expert. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to plunge you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – however, if you extend it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and should awaken feeling more alert. Though if you're dozing for a long period, it will affect how you sleep later that night.”
Finding an Ideal Nap Environment
Regarding precise methods, suggestions are diverse. Certain specialists recommend employing the same protocol you use to foster restful sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and minimal light as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to just doze on the sofa in whatever light is present – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the space your mind associates with nighttime rest. “Napping is notoriously difficult to will,” says an expert. “Without any sleepiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and essentially command yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some sleep pressure present to bring the sleep on in the first place. I can usually take a nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally alarm-free, however, what assists a lot of people is to anticipate a time where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and should options are scarce – such as, when aiming to grab 40 winks on a train or at the office – there’s nothing wrong with bringing a few tools. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I advise that they not rely on their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will