Listen to a few performance podcasters, and you'll be tempting to think that dozing is a secret weapon: not just a quick fix after poor sleep, but a path towards a better memory, improved mood and perhaps improved athletic performance. Premier League footballers swear by it – and so are professional piano players, fighters & media moguls. But if you haven’t got a room for napping or employment that permits frequent naps, is it *truly* enough benefits to a quick nap to justify the kerfuffle? Is there a reliable way to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling better, instead of groggy?
Exploring Your Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three key drivers for daytime sleep in the adult population,” notes a leading sleep and circadian science professor. “One is what we call make-up sleep, which is the action you take when you’ve had poor sleep the night before. The second is prophylactic napping, which involves anticipating insufficient sleep coming up, such as during overnight shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which basically boils down to wanting: you get a chance to sleep during the day, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The initial step to consider, so, is consider your reason for napping. “Naps can be truly beneficial when night sleeping is disturbed due to causes outside your control – for example, if you’re a new parent, or recovering after being ill or intense exercise,” explains a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you take a nap since your night sleep is unstable or poor, that’s often a sign your need for sleep is not where it needs to be. In those cases, naps can become part of the issue, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the focus ought to remain a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This implies that daytime sleep must not be long enough to interfere with your overnight rest, and preferably are not recommended post-3 p.m. (depending on when you go to bed at night). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. Among a prominent study about napping, researchers at Nasa discovered that space travelers had improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% increase in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this involved a six-minute falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals are asleep quickly,” notes a sleep coach. “You'll find much guidance out there regarding the ideal number for sleeping, yet that often lead individuals to become more anxious than anything – and the worst thing you can possibly do while aiming to nod off is to be anxious.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that promotes that sluggish feeling, that foggy state upon waking. “Research indicates it's more effective to take a longer nap of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” explains the professor. “45 minutes is sufficient to plunge you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel disoriented when you get up – while if you extend it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to finish of a sleep cycle and should get up feeling more rejuvenated. But if you nap for an hour and a half, it may impact the quality of your sleep that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Snooze Setting
When it comes to specific techniques, recommendations vary. A few professionals recommend using comparable habits you use to encourage restful sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that one could simply nap in a chair in whatever light happens to be around – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bed as the space your mind associates with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to will,” says an expert. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it becomes harder to lie down and essentially instruct yourself to fall asleep. There must be some drive present to initiate sleep initially. Personally, I can often snooze in full light and naturally wake up alarm-free, but what helps many individuals is to wait for a moment where they feel naturally slightly tired and then simply ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and should you have few options – for instance, when aiming to grab a quick nap on a train or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong to use sleep aids. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I advise that they not rely on their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
