The Key to an Ideal Snooze: Timing, Location and for How Long?
Tune into plenty of performance experts, and it’s tempting to believe that napping is a superpower: more than a band-aid after a bad night’s sleep, but a route to enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and possibly quicker running times. Elite footballers are all at it – as do professional piano players, mixed martial artists & media moguls. However, if you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or a job that encourages frequent naps, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a short sleep to merit the effort? Is there a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“We can identify three primary motivations for taking a nap in the adult population,” explains an expert sleep science specialist. “Firstly, there's termed recovery napping, that is the action you take after experiencing poor sleep overnight. Another is prophylactic napping, where you are anticipating sleep loss ahead, for example when working graveyard shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which simply comes down to the wish: there is a moment to nap in the afternoon, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The first thing to consider, so, is consider why you want to nap. “Napping can be really helpful when overnight rest is disturbed due to causes outside your control – for instance, for a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep expert. “But if you’re napping since your night sleep feels fragile or unreliable, that’s often an indicator your sleep drive is not where required. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the issue, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the main goal should still be a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This implies that daytime sleep ought not to be too extended to disrupt your sleep at night, and ideally shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (based on when you sleep in the evening). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. Among a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, experts discovered that astronauts experienced improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% increase in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this included a six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority doze off within 10 minutes,” says a sleep coach. “You'll find much guidance out there about the ideal number of minutes, yet that often lead individuals to become more stressed above all – and the worst thing you can do when attempting to nod off is worry about it.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, bypass the 45-60 minute window that induces sleep inertia, that foggy state upon waking. “The science suggests it is preferable to take a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the professor. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to put you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented when you wake up – while if you nap for a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be on the end of a sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you nap for 90 minutes, it may impact the quality of your sleep that night.”
Establishing the Right Snooze Setting
As for precise methods, suggestions are diverse. Some experts recommend adopting the same protocol you use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and as much darkness as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to merely snooze on the sofa with ambient lighting is present – both to discourage sleep inertia and to preserve your bedroom as the environment your brain links with proper sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to command,” says a sleep coach. “Without any sleepiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and practically instruct yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination present to bring the sleep on in the first place. I can usually take a nap during the day and wake up naturally alarm-free, though, what aids many individuals is to anticipate a moment where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if your choices are limited – such as, when aiming to fit in 40 winks during a commute or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong with bringing some accessories. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I suggest that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, as they’re going to have|they will
