Hear a few productivity experts, and you'll be tempting to believe that napping is a superpower: more than a sticking plaster after restless night, but a shortcut to a better memory, improved mood and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Professional athletes do it regularly – and so are musicians, fighters and media moguls. Yet, when you don't have a special sleep space or employment that encourages daytime sleep, are there *really* enough benefits to a quick nap to justify the kerfuffle? Does there exist a reliable way to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling improved, rather than worse?
Exploring Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three main reasons for napping among most adults,” says an expert sleep science specialist. “The first is known as recovery napping, which is what you do following insufficient sleep overnight. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, when you are pre-empting insufficient sleep ahead, such as during on night shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which essentially comes down to desire: you get an opportunity to sleep during the day, and it feels nice to nap.”
The first thing to do, so, is consider why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep gets interrupted for reasons outside your control – for instance, if you’re a new parent, or if you are healing from illness or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep specialist. “However, if you nap because your night sleep feels fragile or poor, that is frequently a sign your need for sleep is not where it should be. In such situations, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, rather than the answer. Use napping as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the main goal must always be a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This means that daytime sleep shouldn’t be too extended to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and ideally shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (depending on when you sleep in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa discovered that astronauts experienced a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in performance after a 26-minute nap (in detail, this included a six-minute falling asleep phase). “My advice is using an alarm for half an hour or less – the majority fall asleep quickly,” explains a specialist. “There’s a lot of advice around regarding the optimal amount of minutes, but that tends to lead individuals to become more worried above all – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when attempting to get to sleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that promotes that sluggish feeling, that foggy state when you wake. “Studies suggests it's more effective to opt for a longer nap of one to one and a half hours rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is enough time to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel groggy when you get up – while if you nap for a little longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to be on the end a full cycle and are likely to get up feeling more refreshed. Though if you nap for an hour and a half, it will affect the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Snooze Setting
As for exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. Some experts recommend using comparable habits you use to foster restful sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and as much darkness as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that one could simply nap on a couch with ambient lighting is present – to prevent sleep inertia and to “protect” your bedroom as the place you associate with *real* sleep. “Napping is quite challenging to will,” notes an expert. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it is more challenging to lie down and essentially instruct yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some sleep pressure available to bring the sleep on initially. For me, it's possible to take a nap during the day and wake up naturally alarm-free, however, what assists a lot of people is to look for a moment when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and calmly relax into it.”
Experimentation is key, and if you have few options – for example, when aiming to squeeze in 40 winks while traveling or at the office – it's acceptable to use a few tools. “Coaching footballers, I suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will
