Tune into a few productivity experts, and it’s easy to convince yourself that dozing is a superpower: not just a band-aid after a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut towards enhanced cognition, improved mood and possibly a faster 5k run time. Premier League athletes are all at it – and so are professional piano players, UFC champions & media moguls. But if you lack a special sleep space or a career that permits regular snoozing, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a short sleep for it to be worth the hassle? Does there exist a reliable way to nod off promptly? And can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling improved, rather than worse?
Exploring Your Nap Motivation
“We can identify three main reasons for taking a nap in the adult population,” says a professor of circadian rhythm researcher. “Firstly, there's known as recovery napping, essentially what you do when you’ve had a lack of sleep the night before. Secondly, there's pre-emptive sleep, where you are pre-empting sleep loss in the future, for instance during graveyard shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which essentially is about the wish: you have a moment to nap during the day, and it feels nice to do it.”
The initial step to consider, then, is consider your reason for napping. “Naps can be genuinely useful when night sleeping is disturbed because of factors you cannot change – for example, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from illness or intense exercise,” states a sleep specialist. “Yet when you take a nap as your nighttime sleep is unstable or poor, that is frequently a sign your sleep drive is not as strong as it should be. In such situations, naps can become part of the problem, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods for temporary issues – the focus must always be a robust and regular night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
This means that daytime sleep shouldn’t be long enough to affect your overnight rest, and ideally are not recommended in the late afternoon (contingent on the time you go to bed overnight). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. From a prominent study about napping, space agency scientists found that crew members showed up to a 54% increase in alertness and a 34% boost in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this involved an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – most people doze off quickly,” says a specialist. “You'll find much advice around concerning the optimal amount for sleeping, however, that can make people feel more worried above all – and the least helpful action one can do while aiming to fall asleep is worry about it.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, steer clear of the period between 45 and 60 minutes that promotes that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “Studies would say it's more effective to have an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” says the professor. “45 minutes is sufficient to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel disoriented when you wake up – however, if you nap for a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end of a sleep cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you’re sleeping for a long period, it will affect how you sleep in the evening.”
Establishing the Right Sleep Space
Regarding exact methodologies, recommendations vary. Certain specialists recommend using similar routines you use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and minimal light as you can manage. Some advise that one could just doze on a couch with ambient lighting is available – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to preserve your bedroom as the environment your brain links with nighttime rest. “Napping is notoriously difficult to command,” explains an expert. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to recline and essentially tell yourself to fall asleep. There must be a natural inclination present to start the process to begin with. I can usually snooze during the day and awaken on my own alarm-free, though, what aids most folks is to anticipate an instance when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and calmly relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when options are scarce – for example, if you’re trying to grab some shut-eye while traveling or at the office – it's acceptable with bringing a few tools. “Coaching footballers, I suggest that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
