Hear enough productivity experts, making it tempting to think that napping is a superpower: rather than a sticking plaster following poor sleep, but a shortcut to improved recall, a brighter outlook and possibly quicker running times. Professional footballers are all at it – along with professional piano players, fighters and high-profile executives. But if you haven’t got a room for napping or employment that permits daytime sleep, are there *really* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye to justify the kerfuffle? Is there a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you will arise feeling better, rather than worse?
Identifying Your Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three key drivers for napping among most adults,” notes a professor of sleep and circadian science researcher. “One is termed compensatory napping, that is what you do when you’ve had insufficient sleep the previous night. The second is preparatory napping, when you are pre-empting insufficient sleep ahead, such as during on night shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which essentially comes down to desire: there is an opportunity to nap in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The first thing to consider, therefore, is to think about your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted for reasons you cannot change – such as, when you are a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from illness or heavy physical exertion,” states a sleep expert. “Yet when you nap because your night sleep seems unreliable or unreliable, that’s often an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as required. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods to address immediate needs – the focus ought to remain a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
Therefore that napping must not be long enough to affect your overnight rest, and ideally should not occur post-3 p.m. (based on what time you go to bed in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. Among the most referenced research on the subject, researchers at Nasa noted that astronauts experienced improvements of over 50% in vigilance plus a 34% rise in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this included a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “I recommend using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – most people are asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a specialist. “You'll find much recommendations regarding the ideal number of minutes, however, that can make people feel more stressed above all – and the worst thing one can do when attempting to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, bypass the 45-60 minute window that encourages that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “Studies suggests it’s better to opt for a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the expert. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to send you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel disoriented when you wake up – however, if you take it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing a full cycle and are likely to get up feeling more refreshed. Though if you nap for an hour and a half, it can influence the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Establishing an Ideal Snooze Setting
Regarding exact methodologies, advice differs. Certain specialists propose using the same protocol you’d use to promote a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and minimal light as you can manage. Some advise that one could just doze on the sofa in whatever light happens to be around – to prevent that groggy feeling and to preserve your bed as the space you associate with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to command,” notes a specialist. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and practically tell yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some drive available to initiate sleep initially. For me, it's possible to snooze in broad daylight and naturally wake up without a timer, but what helps a lot of people is to wait for a moment that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply relax into it.”
Experimentation is key, and when your choices are limited – such as, when aiming to fit in 40 winks during a commute or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine with bringing a few tools. “In my work with elite athletes, I advise that they don’t get used to napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
