Tune into plenty of performance gurus, and you'll be tempting to believe that napping is a powerful tool: not just a sticking plaster after poor sleep, but a shortcut towards improved recall, better spirits and perhaps improved athletic performance. Premier League soccer players swear by it – along with concert pianists, fighters & media moguls. However, if you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or employment that permits regular snoozing, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye to justify the hassle? Does there exist a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you will arise feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Understanding The Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three key drivers for taking a nap among most adults,” notes a professor of circadian rhythm researcher. “One is known as compensatory napping, which is what happens following poor sleep the previous night. The second is prophylactic napping, when you are anticipating insufficient sleep coming up, for instance if you’re working on night shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply boils down to wanting: there is an opportunity to doze in the afternoon, and it feels nice to nap.”
The initial step to undertake, so, is consider why you want to nap. “Napping can be really helpful when night sleeping is being disrupted because of factors outside your control – such as, when you are caring for an infant, or recovering after being ill or intense exercise,” says a sleep physiologist. “However, if you nap since your night sleep feels fragile or broken, that’s often a signal your body's sleep pressure is not at the level it should be. Under those circumstances, napping can become a contributing factor, not the solution. Use napping as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the main goal should still be a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Perfect Nap Length
This implies that naps ought not to be long enough to disrupt your sleep at night, and ideally should not occur after about 3pm (based on when you go to bed at night). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. From the most referenced research on the subject, space agency scientists discovered that space travelers showed up to a 54% increase in attentiveness and a 34% increase in performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this included an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “I’d suggest using an alarm for half an hour or less – the majority doze off in under ten minutes,” explains a specialist. “There is plenty of recommendations regarding the ideal number of time, but that tends to lead individuals to become more worried than anything – and the worst thing you can do while aiming to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that induces that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “Research suggests it’s better to opt for an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the expert. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to plunge you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel sluggish upon awakening – whereas if you nap for a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing a natural sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more alert. However, if you nap for an hour and a half, it can influence how you sleep in the evening.”
Establishing an Ideal Nap Environment
As for exact methodologies, recommendations vary. A few professionals propose adopting comparable habits you use to foster restful sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that you should just doze on a couch with ambient lighting is present – both to discourage sleep inertia and to preserve your bed as the environment your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Sleep is notoriously difficult to force,” says a sleep coach. “Without any sleepiness, it is tougher to get comfortable and practically command yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some drive available to bring the sleep on to begin with. For me, it's possible to snooze during the day and naturally wake up alarm-free, though, what aids a lot of people is to look for an instance when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and when you have few options – for instance, if attempting to squeeze in some shut-eye while traveling or at the office – it is perfectly fine with bringing sleep aids. “In my work with footballers, I advise that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, as they’re going to have|they will
