The Formula for a Perfect Nap: Timing, Where & Duration?
Hear a few performance gurus, making it easy to believe that a nap is a powerful tool: rather than a sticking plaster after restless night, but a path to enhanced cognition, better spirits and possibly quicker running times. Professional athletes swear by it – along with professional piano players, UFC champions & high-profile executives. However, if you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or a job that allows frequent naps, are there *really* sufficient advantages to a quick nap to merit the kerfuffle? Can you find a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling better, not worse?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“Experts note three main reasons for daytime sleep for many people,” says a leading sleep science researcher. “The first is what we call recovery napping, which is the action you take following poor sleep the night before. Secondly, there's pre-emptive sleep, where you are anticipating insufficient sleep in the future, for example if you’re working graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply comes down to the wish: you have a moment to sleep during the day, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The first thing to do, so, is to examine your nap motivation. “Napping can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep is being disrupted for reasons outside your control – for instance, if you’re caring for an infant, or if you are healing after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep specialist. “However, if you nap since your night sleep feels fragile or poor, that’s often a signal your sleep drive is not as strong as it should be. Under those circumstances, napping can become part of the problem, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the main goal must always be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
Therefore that napping must not be too extended to affect your sleep at night, and best are not recommended post-3 p.m. (depending on the time you go to bed overnight). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most-cited studies on the subject, researchers at Nasa discovered that astronauts showed up to a 54% increase in attentiveness and a 34% increase in performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this involved a six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend setting a timer for half an hour or less – many individuals fall asleep within 10 minutes,” says a specialist. “You'll find much advice around regarding the optimal amount of time, but that tends to lead individuals to become more worried than anything – and the least helpful action one can do when attempting to fall asleep is to be anxious.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that induces that sluggish feeling, that foggy state when you awaken. “The science would say it's more effective to take a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to put you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel groggy when you get up – whereas if you extend it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing a natural sleep cycle and should awaken feeling more alert. But if you nap for 90 minutes, it may impact how you sleep that night.”
Creating the Right Snooze Setting
Regarding specific techniques, advice differs. Some experts propose using comparable habits you’d use to promote restful sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and minimal light as you can manage. Others suggest that it's fine to merely snooze on a couch in whatever light happens to be around – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the space you associate with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to force,” says a specialist. “Without any sleepiness, it is more challenging to recline and essentially command yourself to go to sleep. There must be some sleep pressure present to initiate sleep in the first place. I can usually take a nap in broad daylight and awaken on my own without a timer, however, what assists a lot of people is to wait for a moment where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and when options are scarce – such as, if attempting to grab some shut-eye on a train or in a work pod – it's acceptable to employ a few tools. “When I’m working with footballers, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will
