The Key for a Flawless Nap: When, Where and for How Long?
Hear enough productivity experts, and it’s easy to convince yourself that dozing is a secret weapon: rather than a sticking plaster after restless night, but a shortcut to a better memory, a brighter outlook and possibly a faster 5k run time. Professional athletes swear by it – and so are professional piano players, fighters and business leaders. However, if you don't have a room for napping or employment that encourages daytime sleep, is it *truly* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye to merit the effort? Does there exist a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you will arise feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Understanding The Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three primary motivations for taking a nap for many people,” says a professor of circadian rhythm researcher. “Firstly, there's known as make-up sleep, that is the action you take following insufficient sleep the night before. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, which involves anticipating sleep loss ahead, such as when working on night shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which essentially boils down to desire: you get an opportunity to doze in the daytime, and it feels nice to do it.”
The initial step to do, so, is to examine your nap motivation. “Naps can be genuinely useful when night sleeping is disturbed due to causes you cannot change – such as, when you are a new parent, or you’re recovering from illness or intense exercise,” says a sleep physiologist. “But if you nap since your night sleep is unstable or unreliable, that’s often a signal your body's sleep pressure is not where it needs to be. In those cases, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the priority must always be a robust and regular night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
Therefore that naps shouldn’t be too extended to disrupt your nighttime sleep, and preferably shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (depending on what time you retire at night). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most referenced research about napping, space agency scientists found that crew members had a boost of up to 54% in alertness and a 34% increase in task performance after a 26-minute nap (in detail, this included a six-minute nodding-off period). “My advice is setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – most people are asleep in under ten minutes,” notes a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of recommendations concerning the optimal amount of time, however, that can make people feel more anxious above all – and the most counterproductive thing one can do while aiming to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “The science would say it's more effective to have an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the expert. “45 minutes is enough time to send you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – whereas if you extend it slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to finish of a sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it will affect your sleep in the evening.”
Establishing the Right Snooze Setting
As for specific techniques, suggestions are diverse. Certain specialists recommend adopting comparable habits one would use to encourage restful sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as is feasible. Some advise that you should just doze on the sofa with ambient lighting happens to be around – both to discourage sleep inertia and to maintain your bed as the environment your brain links with *real* sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to force,” says a sleep coach. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it becomes harder to recline and basically instruct yourself to fall asleep. There must be some sleep pressure present to bring the sleep on initially. Personally, I can often nap during the day and naturally wake up alarm-free, though, what aids many individuals is to anticipate a moment where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if options are scarce – such as, if attempting to grab 40 winks while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine to use some accessories. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
