Tune into enough performance experts, making it easy to believe that a nap is a secret weapon: more than a band-aid following restless night, but a path to a better memory, a brighter outlook and possibly improved athletic performance. Professional footballers do it regularly – as do musicians, mixed martial artists and business leaders. However, if you don't have a room for napping or a job that allows regular snoozing, are there *really* enough benefits to a short sleep for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Can you find a reliable way to nod off promptly? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you will arise feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Identifying The Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three key drivers for taking a nap for many people,” notes a leading circadian rhythm professor. “One is known as make-up sleep, which is what you do after experiencing a lack of sleep the night before. The second is preparatory napping, which involves preparing for a sleep deficit in the future, for example during on night shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which basically is about wanting: you have a moment to nap during the day, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The first thing to consider, therefore, is to examine your reason for napping. “Naps can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep is being disrupted because of factors outside your control – for example, when you are caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from sickness or intense exercise,” explains a sleep expert. “Yet when you take a nap because your nighttime sleep feels fragile or broken, that is frequently a sign your sleep drive is not where it needs to be. In those cases, naps can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Use napping for brief periods for temporary issues – the priority ought to remain a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Nap Length
This implies that naps ought not to be long enough to disrupt your sleep at night, and best are not recommended in the late afternoon (depending on the time you retire at night). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. Among the most-cited studies on the subject, space agency scientists discovered that astronauts had up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% increase in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this included a six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals fall asleep within 10 minutes,” explains a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of recommendations about the ideal number of time, however, that can lead individuals to become more worried than anything else – and the worst thing one can do while aiming to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that promotes sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “Research indicates it’s better to take a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the sleep scientist. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to put you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – whereas if you extend it a little longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to be on the end of a sleep cycle and should wake up feeling more refreshed. However, if you nap for a long period, it can influence the quality of your sleep that night.”
Finding the Perfect Snooze Setting
As for precise methods, suggestions are diverse. Some experts recommend using comparable habits one would use to promote a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as possible. Some advise that it's fine to simply nap in a chair in whatever light is present – both to discourage sleep inertia and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the space you associate with *real* sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to force,” explains a specialist. “Without any sleepiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and practically command yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some sleep pressure present to bring the sleep on to begin with. For me, it's possible to take a nap during the day and naturally wake up without an alarm, but what helps most folks is to wait for a moment when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply relax into it.”
Experimentation is key, and when your choices are limited – for example, if you’re trying to grab 40 winks on a train or at the office – it's acceptable with bringing a few tools. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I suggest that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
