Hear a few self-improvement podcasters, and you'll be easy to convince yourself that napping is a secret weapon: more than a band-aid following restless night, but a shortcut towards improved recall, improved mood and possibly quicker running times. Elite soccer players swear by it – and so are musicians, fighters & high-profile executives. But if you lack a dedicated nap-room or employment that permits frequent naps, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a quick nap to justify the hassle? Is there a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Identifying Your Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three key drivers for daytime sleep in the adult population,” explains an expert circadian rhythm specialist. “The first is what we call make-up sleep, essentially what happens following a lack of sleep the night before. The second is prophylactic napping, where you are pre-empting insufficient sleep ahead, for example when working graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which simply comes down to the wish: there is an opportunity to sleep during the day, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The primary task to consider, so, is consider your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when night sleeping gets interrupted due to causes you cannot change – such as, for a new parent, or if you are healing from illness or intense exercise,” says a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you nap as your sleep at night is unstable or poor, that is frequently an indicator your need for sleep is not where required. In those cases, daytime sleep can turn into a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the focus must always be a robust and regular night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Nap Length
This means that daytime sleep shouldn’t be long enough to affect your nighttime sleep, and preferably are not recommended after about 3pm (depending on when you retire in the evening). What duration is wise? Advice differs. In one of a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, space agency scientists noted that astronauts had up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% boost in performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this included a six-minute long nodding-off period). “I recommend setting an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – most people fall asleep within 10 minutes,” says a sleep expert. “You'll find much guidance out there about the ideal number of time, yet that often lead individuals to become more stressed than anything else – and the least helpful action you can do while aiming to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, bypass the 45-60 minute window that induces that sluggish feeling, that foggy state upon waking. “The science suggests it is preferable to opt for a longer nap of one to one and a half hours rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is long enough to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel sluggish when you get up – whereas if you extend it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be on the end of a sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more refreshed. However, if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it may impact the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Establishing an Ideal Sleep Space
When it comes to precise methods, recommendations vary. Some experts propose employing the same protocol you use to promote restful sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and minimal light as is feasible. Alternatively, experts propose that you should merely snooze on the sofa with ambient lighting happens to be around – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bedroom as the environment your brain links with nighttime rest. “Sleep is quite challenging to force,” says a sleep coach. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to get comfortable and practically command yourself to go to sleep. There must be a natural inclination available to bring the sleep on to begin with. For me, it's possible to snooze in full light and naturally wake up without a timer, however, what assists many individuals is to wait for an instance where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if you have few options – for instance, if you’re trying to squeeze in some shut-eye on a train or at the office – it is perfectly fine to use sleep aids. “Coaching elite athletes, I suggest that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
