The Formula to an Ideal Snooze: Timing, Location and for How Long?
Hear plenty of productivity gurus, and you'll be simple to think that a nap is a secret weapon: rather than a quick fix following restless night, but a shortcut towards enhanced cognition, improved mood and possibly improved athletic performance. Premier League soccer players do it regularly – and so are musicians, UFC champions & business leaders. However, if you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or employment that encourages frequent naps, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a short sleep to merit the kerfuffle? Is there a dependable method to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you will get up feeling improved, not worse?
Exploring Your Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three main reasons for napping among most adults,” explains a leading sleep and circadian science specialist. “Firstly, there's what we call make-up sleep, essentially the action you take after experiencing a lack of sleep the previous night. The second is prophylactic napping, where you are preparing for a sleep deficit in the future, such as if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which basically is about desire: there is an opportunity to doze during the day, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The primary task to undertake, then, is consider your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when night sleeping gets interrupted because of factors you cannot change – for example, for a new parent, or you’re recovering from sickness or intense exercise,” states a sleep physiologist. “But if you nap as your sleep at night seems unreliable or poor, that’s often a signal your body's sleep pressure is not at the level it needs to be. In those cases, daytime sleep can turn into a contributing factor, instead of the fix. Use napping as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the priority should still be a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Optimal Snooze Time
Therefore that napping ought not to be too extended to disrupt your overnight rest, and best are not recommended after about 3pm (depending on when you go to bed overnight). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most-cited studies about napping, experts discovered that space travelers showed improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% increase in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this involved a six-minute sleep onset time). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals fall asleep in under ten minutes,” says a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of guidance out there regarding the perfect length for sleeping, but that tends to make people feel more worried than anything – and the least helpful action you can do while aiming to get to sleep is worry about it.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that induces sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “Studies would say it is preferable to opt for a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is long enough to plunge you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel groggy when you get up – however, if you nap for slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and should wake up feeling more alert. However, if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it will affect your sleep in the evening.”
Creating the Perfect Sleep Space
As for specific techniques, advice differs. Some experts recommend adopting the same protocol you’d use to foster a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and minimal light as possible. Others suggest that you should simply nap in a chair in the existing light is present – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bed as the space your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to force,” says an expert. “Lacking any sleepiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and essentially instruct yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some sleep pressure present to start the process in the first place. Personally, I can often take a nap in broad daylight and awaken on my own without a timer, though, what aids many individuals is to wait for a moment where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and if options are scarce – for instance, when aiming to squeeze in 40 winks while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine to employ a few tools. “When I’m working with footballers, I suggest that they not rely on their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
