Hear a few performance gurus, and it’s easy to believe that napping is a powerful tool: rather than a quick fix following a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut to enhanced cognition, improved mood and perhaps quicker running times. Professional soccer players swear by it – along with concert pianists, UFC champions & business leaders. Yet, when you lack a special sleep space or employment that permits daytime sleep, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Does there exist a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? And can you honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“Experts note three main reasons for napping in the adult population,” notes an expert sleep science professor. “Firstly, there's known as make-up sleep, that is what you do after experiencing poor sleep the night before. Secondly, there's pre-emptive sleep, where you are pre-empting sleep loss in the future, for instance when working graveyard shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which basically comes down to the wish: there is an opportunity to doze during the day, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The initial step to undertake, therefore, is to think about your nap motivation. “Napping can be truly beneficial when overnight rest is disturbed for reasons outside your control – for example, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep specialist. “However, if you nap because your night sleep is unstable or poor, that can be an indicator your need for sleep is not as strong as it should be. In those cases, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the focus ought to remain a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Perfect Nap Length
This means that daytime sleep must not be long enough to affect your nighttime sleep, and best shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (based on what time you sleep overnight). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. Among a prominent study about napping, researchers at Nasa noted that space travelers showed up to a 54% increase in vigilance plus a 34% rise in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this involved an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend using an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals are asleep in under ten minutes,” explains a specialist. “You'll find much guidance out there regarding the ideal number of minutes, however, that can cause people to feel more stressed than anything else – and the least helpful action you can do when trying to nod off is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, bypass the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “Research would say it is preferable to opt for an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the professor. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to plunge you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel sluggish when you get up – however, if you nap for a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end a full cycle and will probably awaken feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it can influence the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Nap Environment
As for specific techniques, advice differs. Certain specialists suggest employing similar routines you use to promote a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as possible. Some advise that it's fine to merely snooze on a couch with ambient lighting happens to be around – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to preserve your bedroom as the space you associate with nighttime rest. “Sleep is notoriously difficult to command,” says a sleep coach. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it becomes harder to lie down and essentially instruct yourself to go to sleep. There must be some sleep pressure present to bring the sleep on initially. Personally, I can often nap in full light and awaken on my own alarm-free, though, what aids most folks is to anticipate a time that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when your choices are limited – such as, if attempting to fit in some shut-eye while traveling or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong with bringing a few tools. “Coaching elite athletes, I suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
