Hear enough performance podcasters, and you'll be simple to believe that napping is a secret weapon: rather than a band-aid after a bad night’s sleep, but a path to improved recall, a brighter outlook and perhaps improved athletic performance. Elite footballers do it regularly – along with concert pianists, UFC champions and high-profile executives. However, if you don't have a special sleep space or employment that allows regular snoozing, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a quick nap for it to be worth the hassle? Is there a reliable way to nod off promptly? And can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling improved, not worse?
Identifying Your Nap Motivation
“There are three key drivers for taking a nap in the adult population,” notes an expert sleep and circadian science specialist. “The first is what we call compensatory napping, which is the action you take when you’ve had a lack of sleep the previous night. Another is prophylactic napping, where you are anticipating sleep loss coming up, such as during on night shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially comes down to the wish: you get a chance to sleep in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The primary task to undertake, therefore, is consider your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted for reasons you cannot change – such as, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from illness or strenuous activity,” states a sleep physiologist. “But if you nap because your nighttime sleep feels fragile or broken, that can be a sign your sleep drive is not as strong as required. In those cases, naps can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Employ naps for brief periods to address immediate needs – the focus ought to remain a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
Therefore that daytime sleep must not be long enough to disrupt your sleep at night, and ideally should not occur post-3 p.m. (contingent on the time you go to bed overnight). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. From the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa discovered that crew members experienced up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% increase in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this involved an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “I recommend setting a timer for half an hour or less – the majority doze off in under ten minutes,” notes a sleep coach. “You'll find much guidance out there about the ideal number of minutes, yet that often lead individuals to become more anxious than anything else – and the least helpful action you can possibly do when attempting to nod off is worry about it.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that induces that sluggish feeling, that foggy state when you awaken. “The science would say it’s better to opt for a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to plunge you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel disoriented when you wake up – however, if you extend it 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 alert. But if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it may impact the quality of your sleep that night.”
Establishing the Right Nap Environment
As for precise methods, recommendations vary. A few professionals suggest employing the same protocol you use to promote restful sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and minimal light as is feasible. Others suggest that one could simply nap in a chair in the existing light is present – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to maintain your bed as the environment your brain links with nighttime rest. “Sleep is quite challenging to will,” says a specialist. “Without any sleepiness, it is tougher to lie down and basically command yourself to fall asleep. You need a natural inclination there to start the process to begin with. I can usually take a nap during the day and naturally wake up without an alarm, though, what aids most folks is to wait for an instance where they feel naturally slightly tired and just gently ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if options are scarce – for instance, when aiming to squeeze in some shut-eye on a train or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong to employ some accessories. “In my work with footballers, I advise that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
