Listen to plenty of performance gurus, and it’s easy to believe that dozing is a powerful tool: more than a band-aid after poor sleep, but a shortcut towards a better memory, improved mood and possibly improved athletic performance. Elite soccer players are all at it – along with musicians, fighters & business leaders. However, if you don't have a dedicated nap-room or employment that permits daytime sleep, are there *really* enough benefits to a quick nap for it to be worth the effort? Does there exist a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you will get up feeling refreshed, not worse?
Identifying The Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three key drivers for taking a nap for many people,” notes an expert circadian rhythm researcher. “One is termed make-up sleep, which is the action you take following a lack of sleep the night before. Another is prophylactic napping, which involves preparing for a sleep deficit coming up, such as when working graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially boils down to the wish: you have a moment to sleep in the afternoon, and it feels nice to nap.”
The initial step to undertake, therefore, is to examine your reason for napping. “Napping can be genuinely useful when overnight rest gets interrupted for reasons outside your control – for instance, when you are a new parent, or if you are healing after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep specialist. “However, if you nap since your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or poor, that can be a sign your body's sleep pressure is not at the level it needs to be. In such situations, naps can become part of the issue, rather than the answer. Employ naps for brief periods for short-term problems – the focus ought to remain a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This means that daytime sleep ought not to be long enough to affect your overnight rest, and preferably shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (depending on when you go to bed at night). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. Among the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa found that astronauts had up to a 54% increase in attentiveness and a 34% increase in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this involved an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “My advice is setting a timer for half an hour or less – most people are asleep in under ten minutes,” explains a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of guidance out there about the ideal number for sleeping, but that tends to lead individuals to become more stressed than anything – and the least helpful action you can do when trying to get to sleep is worry about it.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “The science suggests it’s better to have an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the expert. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to put you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel groggy when you wake up – however, if you take it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to finish a full cycle and should wake up feeling more refreshed. However, if you nap for a long period, it will affect how you sleep in the evening.”
Establishing the Right Snooze Setting
Regarding specific techniques, advice differs. A few professionals recommend employing the same protocol you use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as you can manage. Some advise that it's fine to merely snooze on the sofa in the existing light happens to be around – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bed as the space your brain links with nighttime rest. “Napping is quite challenging to force,” notes an expert. “Lacking any sleepiness, it is more challenging to lie down and essentially tell yourself to nod off. You need a natural inclination there to initiate sleep initially. I can usually snooze during the day and awaken on my own alarm-free, however, what assists a lot of people is to anticipate a time when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and if your choices are limited – for instance, if you’re trying to squeeze in a quick nap during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong with bringing a few tools. “When I’m working with footballers, I suggest that they don’t get used to napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will
