Hear a few performance experts, making it simple to believe that dozing is a secret weapon: rather than a band-aid after a bad night’s sleep, but a route towards a better memory, improved mood and maybe a faster 5k run time. Professional footballers are all at it – as do concert pianists, mixed martial artists and business leaders. However, if you lack a special sleep space or a career that encourages daytime sleep, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye to merit the effort? Does there exist a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you will arise feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Understanding Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three primary motivations for daytime sleep for many people,” says a professor of sleep science specialist. “The first is what we call compensatory napping, essentially what happens when you’ve had a lack of sleep the previous night. The second is pre-emptive sleep, when you are pre-empting insufficient sleep in the future, such as when working on night shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which essentially boils down to the wish: you get a chance to doze in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The initial step to consider, 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 if you are healing after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep expert. “Yet when you take a nap as your nighttime sleep feels fragile or poor, that’s often a signal your sleep drive is not as strong as it needs to be. In those cases, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, not the solution. Employ naps for brief periods for temporary issues – the main goal should still be a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Nap Length
Therefore that napping ought not to be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your overnight rest, and preferably are not recommended post-3 p.m. (contingent on what time you retire overnight). What duration is wise? Recommendations vary. Among the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, experts noted that astronauts had up to a 54% increase in attentiveness and a 34% increase in performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this counted a six-minute long nodding-off period). “I recommend setting a timer for half an hour or less – most people doze off quickly,” notes a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of guidance out there concerning the optimal amount of minutes, yet that often make people feel more anxious above all – and the worst thing you can do while aiming to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, bypass the 45-60 minute window that encourages sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “Studies would say it’s better to opt for a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” says the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is long enough to send you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel sluggish upon awakening – while if you extend it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be on the end of a sleep cycle and should awaken feeling more rejuvenated. But if you nap for an hour and a half, it can influence how you sleep in the evening.”
Creating an Ideal Sleep Space
Regarding specific techniques, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals recommend employing the same protocol one would use to encourage restful sleep: a silent space, a cozy bed and as much darkness as possible. Others suggest that you should just doze in a chair in whatever light is present – to avoid that groggy feeling and to “protect” your bedroom as the space your mind associates with proper sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to command,” says an expert. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it is more challenging to lie down and basically tell yourself to go to sleep. You need a natural inclination available to start the process to begin with. I can usually nap during the day and awaken on my own without an alarm, but what helps many individuals is to look for a moment that they’re naturally slightly tired and calmly allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when you have few options – for instance, if you’re trying to squeeze in a quick nap while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong with bringing a few tools. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I advise that they don’t get used to napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
