Listen to plenty of productivity experts, and you'll be easy to think that a nap is a secret weapon: rather than a sticking plaster after a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut to improved recall, improved mood and perhaps improved athletic performance. Elite athletes do it regularly – and so are concert pianists, UFC champions and high-profile executives. But if you don't have a dedicated nap-room or employment that allows daytime sleep, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a short sleep for it to be worth the effort? Is there a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you will get up feeling improved, rather than worse?
Exploring Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three main reasons for taking a nap for many people,” explains an expert sleep science researcher. “The first is known as recovery napping, that is what happens following poor sleep overnight. The second is pre-emptive sleep, which involves preparing for a sleep deficit coming up, for instance if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially boils down to the wish: you have a chance to doze during the day, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The initial step to do, therefore, is to examine your reason for napping. “Napping can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is disturbed due to causes outside your control – for example, for caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from sickness or intense exercise,” says a sleep expert. “But if you’re napping as your sleep at night is unstable or unreliable, that can be a signal your sleep drive is not as strong as it should be. In those cases, naps can become part of the issue, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the priority must always be a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Perfect Nap Duration
This means that naps must not be sufficiently lengthy to affect your overnight rest, and best are not recommended post-3 p.m. (contingent on what time you sleep overnight). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. From the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa found that space travelers had a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this included an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend setting an alarm for half an hour or less – the majority fall asleep quickly,” explains a specialist. “You'll find much advice around concerning the ideal number of time, but that tends to lead individuals to become more worried than anything – and the worst thing you can do when attempting to nod off is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep grogginess, that foggy state when you awaken. “Studies suggests it's more effective to take a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the professor. “45 minutes is long enough to put you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel groggy when you get up – while if you take it a little longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and should awaken feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you're dozing for a long period, it can influence the quality of your sleep that night.”
Creating an Ideal Sleep Space
As for specific techniques, suggestions are diverse. Some experts recommend adopting similar routines you use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and minimal light as you can manage. Some advise that you should merely snooze on the sofa with ambient lighting is available – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the place you associate with *real* sleep. “Napping is something really tricky to force,” explains an expert. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to get comfortable and practically command yourself to fall asleep. You need some drive there to bring the sleep on initially. Personally, I can often snooze in broad daylight and wake up naturally without an alarm, though, what aids many individuals is to anticipate an instance when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and should options are scarce – for instance, if attempting to grab some shut-eye on a train or at the office – it's acceptable to use a few tools. “Coaching elite athletes, I advise that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
