Hear plenty of performance podcasters, making it tempting to believe that napping is a secret weapon: not just a band-aid following restless night, but a route towards improved recall, a brighter outlook and maybe a faster 5k run time. Premier League athletes do it regularly – as do concert pianists, mixed martial artists and high-profile executives. Yet, when you don't have a special sleep space or a job that permits frequent naps, is it *truly* enough benefits to a quick nap for it to be worth the effort? Does there exist a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, not worse?
Identifying The Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three primary motivations for daytime sleep for many people,” says a professor of sleep science professor. “The first is what we call make-up sleep, that is what you do after experiencing a lack of sleep the previous night. The second is preparatory napping, when you are preparing for a sleep deficit in the future, for example when working overnight shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which essentially boils down to the wish: you get a chance to sleep in the afternoon, and it feels nice to nap.”
The primary task to do, therefore, is consider your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted due to causes outside your control – such as, if you’re a new parent, or if you are healing from illness or heavy physical exertion,” states a sleep physiologist. “But if you nap as your nighttime sleep feels fragile or poor, that is frequently a signal your body's sleep pressure is not at the level required. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Use napping as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the focus ought to remain a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
Therefore that daytime sleep must not be long enough to disrupt your sleep at night, and best are not recommended post-3 p.m. (based on when you go to bed in the evening). How long is sensible? Advice differs. In one of the most referenced research about napping, space agency scientists noted that astronauts experienced improvements of over 50% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this included a six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – many individuals doze off within 10 minutes,” says a specialist. “There’s a lot of recommendations regarding the perfect length of time, yet that often make people feel more stressed than anything – and the worst thing you can possibly do when trying to fall asleep is worry about it.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “Research indicates it is preferable to have a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” explains the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to put you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel disoriented when you wake up – while if you take it a little longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be on the end of a sleep cycle and will probably get up feeling more refreshed. But if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it can influence the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Establishing the Right Sleep Space
Regarding exact methodologies, recommendations vary. Some experts propose using the same protocol you’d use to promote a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that you should merely snooze on a couch in whatever light is present – to prevent that groggy feeling and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the place your mind associates with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to will,” explains a specialist. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it is more challenging to get comfortable and practically instruct yourself to go to sleep. You need a natural inclination present to bring the sleep on in the first place. Personally, I can often snooze in full light and naturally wake up without an alarm, though, what aids a lot of people is to anticipate an instance that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and calmly relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if you have few options – for example, when aiming to grab a quick nap while traveling or in a work pod – it's acceptable with bringing sleep aids. “Coaching footballers, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
