The Formula to an Ideal Nap: Timing, Where and Duration?
Hear a few performance gurus, and you'll be tempting to believe that dozing is a superpower: not just a sticking plaster after a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut towards enhanced cognition, improved mood and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Premier League soccer players are all at it – and so are musicians, mixed martial artists & media moguls. But if you haven’t got a room for napping or a career that encourages frequent naps, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a short sleep to merit the kerfuffle? Does there exist a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling better, instead of groggy?
Understanding Your Reasons for Napping
“There are three main reasons for napping among most adults,” says a professor of sleep science specialist. “The first is known as make-up sleep, which is the action you take after experiencing a lack of sleep overnight. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, where you are pre-empting insufficient sleep in the future, for example when working graveyard shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially is about wanting: you have a chance to nap in the afternoon, and it feels nice to do it.”
The primary task to undertake, therefore, is to examine why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when night sleeping is being disrupted because of factors beyond your control – for instance, for caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from sickness or intense exercise,” explains a sleep specialist. “But if you take a nap because your sleep at night is unstable or unreliable, that can be an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not at the level it needs to be. In such situations, napping can become part of the issue, not the solution. Employ naps as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the priority must always be a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Perfect Nap Duration
Therefore that daytime sleep ought not to be long enough to interfere with your overnight rest, and best should not occur post-3 p.m. (based on the time you sleep overnight). How long is sensible? Advice differs. Among a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, space agency scientists discovered that astronauts experienced a boost of up to 54% in vigilance plus a 34% rise in task performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this counted a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “My advice is using an alarm for half an hour or less – the majority doze off in under ten minutes,” notes a specialist. “There is plenty of recommendations concerning the optimal amount of time, yet that often lead individuals to become more worried than anything – and the worst thing you can possibly do while aiming to nod off is to stress over it.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, bypass the 45-60 minute window that induces sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “Studies suggests it’s better to have a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” says the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel sluggish when you get up – however, if you nap for a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to finish a full cycle and will probably awaken feeling more refreshed. However, if you’re sleeping for a long period, it may impact how you sleep in the evening.”
Establishing an Ideal Sleep Space
When it comes to precise methods, suggestions are diverse. Certain specialists recommend employing the same protocol you use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a cozy bed and minimal light as is feasible. Some advise that one could merely snooze in a chair in the existing light is present – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to maintain your bedroom as the place your brain links with *real* sleep. “Napping is something really tricky to command,” explains an expert. “Without any sleepiness, it is more challenging to lie down and practically tell yourself to fall asleep. There must be some sleep pressure present to start the process initially. For me, it's possible to take a nap in full light and awaken on my own alarm-free, however, what assists most folks is to look for a time that they’re naturally slightly tired and calmly allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and should options are scarce – for example, when aiming to grab a quick nap on a train or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine to use a few tools. “In my work with footballers, I recommend that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
