Hear enough performance podcasters, making it simple to convince yourself that napping is a superpower: rather than a sticking plaster after a bad night’s sleep, but a route to enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and maybe a faster 5k run time. Premier League footballers are all at it – and so are musicians, fighters & high-profile executives. But if you lack a dedicated nap-room or a job that encourages daytime sleep, is it *truly* enough benefits to a quick nap to justify the effort? Does there exist a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you honestly promise you will arise feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Understanding The Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three main reasons for daytime sleep in the adult population,” notes an expert circadian rhythm professor. “Firstly, there's known as compensatory napping, that is what you do after experiencing poor sleep the night before. The second is prophylactic napping, which involves preparing for insufficient sleep in the future, such as during overnight shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially comes down to desire: you have a chance to sleep in the daytime, and it feels nice to do it.”
The first thing to consider, then, is to think about your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when night sleeping gets interrupted for reasons outside your control – for instance, for caring for an infant, or recovering after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep expert. “However, if you take a nap as your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or broken, that is frequently a sign your sleep drive is not at the level required. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Use napping as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the priority must always be a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This implies that daytime sleep shouldn’t be long enough to disrupt your overnight rest, and best are not recommended after about 3pm (depending on when you sleep overnight). What duration is wise? Advice differs. Among the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, space agency scientists found that space travelers showed improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% increase in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this counted an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – many individuals doze off quickly,” says a sleep coach. “There is plenty of guidance out there regarding the ideal number of time, yet that often cause people to feel more stressed above all – and the most counterproductive thing you can possibly do when attempting to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, bypass the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Research indicates it’s better to opt for an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the expert. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to plunge you into deep sleep and you’re more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – whereas if you take it a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to finish of a sleep cycle and will probably wake up feeling more rejuvenated. But if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it may impact your sleep in the evening.”
Creating the Perfect Snooze Setting
As for precise methods, recommendations vary. A few professionals propose adopting similar routines you use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and minimal light as is feasible. Others suggest that you should simply nap in a chair with ambient lighting happens to be around – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the space you associate with *real* sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to will,” notes an expert. “Without any drowsiness, it is more challenging to lie down and essentially command yourself to fall asleep. You need some drive there to start the process to begin with. I can usually nap in broad daylight and awaken on my own without a timer, though, what aids a lot of people is to look for an instance when they are naturally slightly tired and calmly relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should you have few options – for instance, when aiming to squeeze in some shut-eye on a train or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong to employ a few tools. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will
