Listen to enough productivity gurus, and you'll be simple to believe that dozing is a powerful tool: not just a quick fix after restless night, but a shortcut to a better memory, improved mood and maybe improved athletic performance. Elite soccer players do it regularly – as do musicians, UFC champions & high-profile executives. But if you haven’t got a special sleep space or a career that encourages regular snoozing, is it *truly* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye to merit the kerfuffle? Does there exist a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Identifying The Nap Motivation
“Experts note three main reasons for napping among most adults,” explains a leading sleep science professor. “The first is termed recovery napping, which is the action you take following a lack of sleep the previous night. Another is preparatory napping, where you are preparing for insufficient sleep ahead, such as if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which simply comes down to wanting: there is an opportunity to doze in the afternoon, and it feels nice to nap.”
The first thing to undertake, then, is to think about why you want to nap. “Naps can be genuinely useful when night sleeping gets interrupted for reasons beyond your control – such as, when you are caring for an infant, or if you are healing from illness or intense exercise,” states a sleep physiologist. “But if you nap since your nighttime sleep is unstable or broken, that’s often a signal your body's sleep pressure is not where required. Under those circumstances, napping can become a contributing factor, not the solution. Use napping as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the priority ought to remain a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
Therefore that napping must not be too extended to disrupt your sleep at night, and ideally should not occur in the late afternoon (depending on what time you sleep in the evening). What duration is wise? Recommendations vary. Among a prominent study about napping, space agency scientists discovered that crew members experienced improvements of over 50% in attentiveness and a 34% boost in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this counted a six-minute long sleep onset time). “My advice is setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – many individuals are asleep in under ten minutes,” explains a specialist. “There is plenty of recommendations concerning the optimal amount of minutes, however, that can make people feel more worried above all – and the worst thing you can possibly do while aiming to fall asleep is worry about it.”
If you’re going to nap for a longer period, bypass the 45-60 minute window that induces sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “Research would say it’s better to opt for a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” explains the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to plunge you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented when you get up – however, if you extend it a little longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more refreshed. But if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it will affect how you sleep that night.”
Creating an Ideal Sleep Space
When it comes to precise methods, recommendations vary. A few professionals propose employing the same protocol you use to promote restful sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and as much darkness as you can manage. Others suggest that one could just doze on the sofa with ambient lighting happens to be around – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to preserve your bedroom as the environment your mind associates with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to will,” explains an expert. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it is more challenging to lie down and essentially command yourself to nod off. There must be a natural inclination there to initiate sleep in the first place. For me, it's possible to take a nap during the day and naturally wake up without a timer, though, what aids most folks is to wait for a moment that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply ease into sleep.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and should your choices are limited – for example, if attempting to fit in some shut-eye on a train or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine to employ sleep aids. “In my work with footballers, I recommend that they not rely on napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
