Hear enough productivity podcasters, and you'll be easy to believe that napping is a superpower: rather than a quick fix after restless night, but a shortcut towards improved recall, a brighter outlook and possibly quicker running times. Premier League soccer players swear by it – as do professional piano players, UFC champions and high-profile executives. But if you don't have a special sleep space or a career that permits daytime sleep, is it *truly* enough benefits to a short sleep for it to be worth the hassle? Can you find a reliable way to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you will arise feeling better, instead of groggy?
Identifying Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three primary motivations for daytime sleep for many people,” explains a professor of circadian rhythm researcher. “Firstly, there's termed recovery napping, that is what you do when you’ve had poor sleep the previous night. The second is preparatory napping, which involves pre-empting a sleep deficit ahead, for example if you’re working on night shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which essentially is about wanting: you get an opportunity to doze in the afternoon, and it feels nice to do it.”
The primary task to do, so, is to think about why you want to nap. “Napping can be really helpful when night sleeping is disturbed because of factors you cannot change – for example, if you’re a new parent, or if you are healing from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep physiologist. “But if you’re napping since your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or broken, that is frequently an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as it needs to be. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods to address immediate needs – the focus ought to remain a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Optimal Snooze Time
This means that daytime sleep shouldn’t be too extended to disrupt your nighttime sleep, and ideally should not occur after about 3pm (contingent on the time you retire at night). How long is sensible? Advice differs. In one of the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa found that astronauts had improvements of over 50% 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 sleep coach. “There is plenty of guidance out there concerning the perfect length of minutes, however, that can cause people to feel more stressed than anything – and the least helpful action you can do when attempting to fall asleep is worry about it.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that encourages that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Research indicates it’s better to have a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the expert. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to send you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented when you wake up – however, if you nap for a little longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to finish of a sleep cycle and will probably get up feeling more refreshed. Though if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it may impact how you sleep that night.”
Establishing an Ideal Sleep Space
When it comes to exact methodologies, recommendations vary. A few professionals propose employing comparable habits you use to foster a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as is feasible. Alternatively, experts propose that one could just doze in a chair with ambient lighting is available – to avoid sleep inertia and to “protect” your bedroom as the place your mind associates with proper sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to will,” notes a sleep coach. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and essentially instruct yourself to nod off. You need a natural inclination there to initiate sleep initially. For me, it's possible to snooze during the day and awaken on my own without a timer, but what helps many individuals is to anticipate a moment that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and if your choices are limited – such as, if attempting to grab some shut-eye during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable to use a few tools. “When I’m working with professional sportspeople, I suggest that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
