Listen to a few performance podcasters, and it’s tempting to think that a nap is a secret weapon: rather than a sticking plaster following a bad night’s sleep, but a path towards improved recall, improved mood and maybe quicker running times. Professional soccer players are all at it – along with professional piano players, UFC champions & business leaders. But if you don't have a dedicated nap-room or a job that encourages daytime sleep, are there *really* enough benefits to a short sleep to merit the kerfuffle? Does there exist a dependable method to nod off promptly? And can you honestly promise you will get up feeling refreshed, not worse?
Identifying The Drive to Snooze
“There are three key drivers for daytime sleep for many people,” explains an expert sleep and circadian science researcher. “One is termed make-up sleep, that is the action you take when you’ve had a lack of sleep the night before. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, which involves anticipating sleep loss in the future, for example during graveyard shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which simply comes down to desire: you get a chance to nap in the afternoon, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The first thing to consider, so, is consider your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when overnight rest is being disrupted because of factors you cannot change – for example, when you are a new parent, or recovering from illness or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep specialist. “But if you nap because your sleep at night is unstable or unreliable, that can be a signal your need for sleep is not as strong as required. In those cases, napping can become part of the problem, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the main goal should still be a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Nap Length
Therefore that naps ought not to be long enough to affect your overnight rest, and best should not occur post-3 p.m. (based on the time you sleep at night). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. From the most referenced research about napping, researchers at Nasa noted that crew members experienced up to a 54% increase in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this counted a six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend using an alarm for half an hour or less – the majority doze off within 10 minutes,” explains a sleep expert. “You'll find much advice around concerning the optimal amount of minutes, but that tends to make people feel more anxious than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when trying to fall asleep is worry about it.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, steer clear of the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “The science suggests it’s better to opt for an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is long enough to put you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel groggy when you get up – however, if you nap for slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be on the end a full cycle and will probably get up feeling more refreshed. But if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it can influence the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Snooze Setting
Regarding precise methods, advice differs. Certain specialists recommend adopting comparable habits you’d use to foster a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and minimal light as is feasible. Some advise that you should merely snooze on a couch with ambient lighting is present – to avoid sleep inertia and to “protect” your bedroom as the environment you associate with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to force,” says an expert. “Without the urge to sleep, it is tougher to lie down and essentially instruct yourself to go to sleep. There must be some drive there to initiate sleep to begin with. Personally, I can often take a nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up alarm-free, though, what aids many individuals is to anticipate a time when they are naturally slightly tired and calmly allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if your choices are limited – for example, if you’re trying to fit in 40 winks during a commute or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong to employ sleep aids. “Coaching elite athletes, I recommend that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
