Hear a few productivity experts, and it’s simple to think that dozing is a superpower: more than a quick fix after a bad night’s sleep, but a route to a better memory, a brighter outlook and perhaps improved athletic performance. Premier League athletes do it regularly – as do professional piano players, fighters and business leaders. Yet, when you haven’t got a room for napping or employment that permits daytime sleep, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a short sleep for it to be worth the hassle? Does there exist a reliable way to nod off promptly? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you will arise feeling refreshed, not worse?
Understanding The Drive to Snooze
“There are three primary motivations for daytime sleep for many people,” explains a leading sleep science researcher. “The first is what we call compensatory napping, that is the action you take after experiencing a lack of sleep the previous night. Another is pre-emptive sleep, which involves preparing for insufficient sleep coming up, for instance if you’re working on night shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply boils down to wanting: you have a moment to nap during the day, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The primary task to consider, so, is consider your nap motivation. “Napping can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep gets interrupted for reasons outside your control – for instance, for a parent of a newborn, or recovering from illness or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep expert. “Yet when you nap since your sleep at night is unstable or poor, that can be a sign your sleep drive is not at the level it needs to be. In such situations, naps can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Employ naps for brief periods for temporary issues – the priority ought to remain a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Length
This means that napping shouldn’t be too extended to affect your overnight rest, and ideally should not occur post-3 p.m. (contingent on what time you sleep in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. Among the most referenced research about napping, researchers at Nasa discovered that space travelers experienced up to a 54% increase in alertness and a 34% increase in task performance after a 26-minute nap (technically, this included a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “My advice is setting a timer for half an hour or less – the majority fall asleep in under ten minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “You'll find much guidance out there concerning the perfect length for sleeping, yet that often lead individuals to become more anxious above all – and the least helpful action you can do while aiming to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “Research suggests it is preferable to take a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” says the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to plunge you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel groggy when you get up – whereas if you nap for a little longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more refreshed. Though if you’re sleeping for a long period, it may impact how you sleep in the evening.”
Establishing the Perfect Sleep Space
As for exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals propose employing similar routines you use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that one could just doze in a chair in the existing light happens to be around – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bed as the environment you associate with *real* sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to force,” explains a sleep coach. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is tougher to lie down and practically tell yourself to nod off. You need some drive present to initiate sleep initially. For me, it's possible to take a nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally alarm-free, but what helps many individuals is to anticipate a time where they feel naturally slightly tired and calmly ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and when you have few options – for example, when aiming to fit in a quick nap during a commute or at the office – it is perfectly fine to employ sleep aids. “When I’m working with footballers, I suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will
