The Key for a Flawless Nap: Timing, Where and for How Long?
Listen to a few productivity experts, and you'll be tempting to believe that napping is a powerful tool: not just a quick fix following restless night, but a route to a better memory, better spirits and maybe a faster 5k run time. Professional footballers do it regularly – as do musicians, fighters & media moguls. Yet, when you haven’t got a special sleep space or a career that permits daytime sleep, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a quick nap for it to be worth the effort? Can you find a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? And can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling better, not worse?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“Experts note three main reasons for taking a nap among most adults,” explains a professor of sleep science professor. “The first is termed recovery napping, that is what you do when you’ve had poor sleep the previous night. Secondly, there's pre-emptive sleep, when you are pre-empting sleep loss coming up, for instance if you’re working overnight shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which simply comes down to wanting: you get a moment to nap in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The first thing to do, then, is consider why you want to nap. “Napping can be truly beneficial when night sleeping gets interrupted because of factors beyond your control – for example, when you are a new parent, or if you are healing after being ill or intense exercise,” explains a sleep specialist. “Yet when you’re napping because your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or poor, that’s often a signal your sleep drive is not as strong as it needs to be. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, rather than the answer. Use napping as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the main goal ought to remain a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
Therefore that daytime sleep shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your sleep at night, and best are not recommended post-3 p.m. (contingent on when you retire in the evening). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, experts found that space travelers had improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% boost in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this counted a six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – most people fall asleep quickly,” says a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of advice around regarding the perfect length for sleeping, but that tends to lead individuals to become more stressed above all – and the most counterproductive thing you can do when trying to fall asleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that encourages that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “Research would say it’s better to have a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the professor. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to put you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you get up – while if you extend it slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to finish of a sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more alert. However, if you nap for a long period, it can influence how you sleep that night.”
Creating the Perfect Sleep Space
As for specific techniques, recommendations vary. A few professionals suggest employing the same protocol you’d use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and minimal light as is feasible. Some advise that it's fine to just doze on the sofa with ambient lighting is present – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to preserve your bed as the space your brain links with nighttime rest. “Napping is notoriously difficult to force,” notes a sleep coach. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it is tougher to recline and essentially instruct yourself to fall asleep. There must be some sleep pressure present to bring the sleep on to begin with. I can usually snooze during the day and wake up naturally alarm-free, however, what assists most folks is to wait for an instance when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if your choices are limited – such as, when aiming to squeeze in some shut-eye during a commute or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine to use a few tools. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I advise that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
