Tune into a few self-improvement experts, and you'll be simple to think that dozing is a powerful tool: more than a band-aid following a bad night’s sleep, but a path towards enhanced cognition, improved mood and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Elite soccer players are all at it – and so are musicians, UFC champions and business leaders. But if you haven’t got a room for napping or employment that allows frequent naps, is it *truly* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Is there a surefire technique to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling better, instead of groggy?
Identifying The Drive to Snooze
“There are three main reasons for taking a nap in the adult population,” explains a leading sleep science researcher. “The first is what we call compensatory napping, which is what happens following insufficient sleep the night before. Another is prophylactic napping, where you are preparing for sleep loss ahead, for example when working on night shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which essentially comes down to wanting: you get an opportunity to doze during the day, and it feels nice to do it.”
The primary task to consider, so, is to examine your reason for napping. “Napping can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep gets interrupted for reasons beyond your control – such as, if you’re caring for an infant, or if you are healing from illness or intense exercise,” states a sleep physiologist. “But if you take a nap as your sleep at night seems unreliable or poor, that is frequently a signal your body's sleep pressure is not at the level it should be. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the focus must always be a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Optimal Snooze Time
This implies that napping must not be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your overnight rest, and ideally are not recommended post-3 p.m. (depending on the time you go to bed at night). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most referenced research on the subject, space agency scientists found that crew members had a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness and a 34% boost in performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this included a six-minute long sleep onset time). “I recommend setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – many individuals fall asleep in under ten minutes,” says a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of recommendations about the ideal number for sleeping, yet that often cause people to feel more anxious than anything – and the least helpful action you can possibly do when attempting to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “The science suggests it's more effective to take an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the sleep scientist. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to put you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel groggy when you get up – while if you take it a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to finish a full cycle and should awaken feeling more refreshed. Though if you nap for a long period, it will affect your sleep in the evening.”
Creating the Perfect Nap Environment
When it comes to precise methods, suggestions are diverse. Some experts propose employing the same protocol you’d use to encourage restful sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and as much darkness as possible. Some advise that one could simply nap on a couch in the existing light is present – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to preserve your bed as the environment you associate with nighttime rest. “Sleep is something really tricky to command,” explains an expert. “Without the urge to sleep, it is tougher to recline and essentially instruct yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some sleep pressure present to initiate sleep initially. For me, it's possible to snooze in broad daylight and wake up naturally without an alarm, however, what assists most folks is to anticipate a moment that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and should you have few options – for example, when aiming to fit in a quick nap during a commute or at the office – it is perfectly fine to use a few tools. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
