Tune into a few productivity podcasters, and you'll be tempting to convince yourself that dozing is a superpower: rather than a band-aid after restless night, but a path to enhanced cognition, better spirits and possibly improved athletic performance. Premier League soccer players are all at it – along with concert pianists, UFC champions & high-profile executives. However, if you don't have a room for napping or employment that permits daytime sleep, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a quick nap to merit the effort? Is there a dependable method to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Exploring Your Drive to Snooze
“There are three main reasons for daytime sleep among most adults,” notes an expert circadian rhythm professor. “The first is known as compensatory napping, that is what you do after experiencing poor sleep overnight. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, which involves anticipating sleep loss ahead, for instance when working overnight shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which basically comes down to wanting: you have a chance to sleep in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The first thing to do, then, is to examine why you want to nap. “Napping can be truly beneficial when overnight rest is being disrupted due to causes you cannot change – for instance, if you’re caring for an infant, or recovering from illness or intense exercise,” states a sleep specialist. “Yet when you’re napping because your night sleep feels fragile or broken, that is frequently an indicator your sleep drive is not where it should be. In those cases, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, rather than the answer. Use napping as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the focus should still be a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
This means that daytime sleep must not be too extended to affect your overnight rest, and preferably shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (depending on the time you sleep at night). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most referenced research on the subject, experts found that crew members showed improvements of over 50% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in performance after a 26-minute nap (technically, this involved a six-minute long nodding-off period). “I recommend setting an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals are asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a specialist. “There is plenty of recommendations regarding the perfect length for sleeping, but that tends to cause people to feel more worried above all – and the least helpful action you can possibly do when trying to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
If you plan to sleep for longer, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that promotes sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “Research indicates it is preferable to have a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is sufficient to plunge you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel groggy upon awakening – however, if you extend it a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to finish a full cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more refreshed. But if you're dozing for an hour and a half, it will affect the quality of your sleep that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Sleep Space
When it comes to precise methods, recommendations vary. Some experts recommend adopting comparable habits you use to foster a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that one could simply nap in a chair with ambient lighting happens to be around – both to discourage sleep inertia and to maintain your bedroom as the space you associate with proper sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to force,” explains a specialist. “Without the urge to sleep, it is tougher to recline and practically tell yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be some sleep pressure available to initiate sleep initially. I can usually nap in full light and awaken on my own without a timer, though, what aids many individuals is to anticipate a moment when they are naturally slightly tired and just gently ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and if options are scarce – for example, if you’re trying to fit in some shut-eye while traveling or in a work pod – it's acceptable with bringing a few tools. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I advise that they don’t get used to napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will
