Hear plenty of performance podcasters, and it’s tempting to believe that dozing is a secret weapon: not just a band-aid after poor sleep, but a shortcut to enhanced cognition, better spirits and perhaps quicker running times. Elite athletes do it regularly – as do musicians, mixed martial artists and media moguls. Yet, when you haven’t got a special sleep space or a career that encourages daytime sleep, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a short sleep to justify the effort? Is there a dependable method to fall asleep fast? And can you honestly promise you will get up feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“We can identify three main reasons for napping among most adults,” notes an expert sleep and circadian science specialist. “One is termed make-up sleep, essentially what happens following a lack of sleep overnight. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, where you are anticipating a sleep deficit in the future, such as during graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply boils down to the wish: you have a moment to doze during the day, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The first thing to consider, therefore, is to examine your nap motivation. “Naps can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep is being disrupted due to causes outside your control – such as, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or recovering from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep expert. “However, if you’re napping because your nighttime sleep is unstable or broken, that is frequently a signal 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. Use napping as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the priority must always be a robust and regular night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This implies that naps must not be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your sleep at night, and ideally shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (contingent on the time you go to bed in the evening). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most referenced research about napping, researchers at Nasa noted that crew members had improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% increase in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this involved an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – most people fall asleep quickly,” notes a sleep expert. “There is plenty of recommendations concerning the perfect length for sleeping, yet that often make people feel more anxious above all – and the worst thing you can possibly do when trying to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, steer clear of the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “Research indicates it's more effective to have an extended nap of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” notes the professor. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to put you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel disoriented when you get up – whereas if you extend it a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be completing a full cycle and will probably get up feeling more alert. However, if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it can influence how you sleep that night.”
Creating the Right Sleep Space
As for specific techniques, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals suggest using the same protocol one would use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and minimal light as possible. Some advise that one could merely snooze on the sofa in the existing light happens to be around – to avoid sleep inertia and to “protect” your bedroom as the space you associate with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to force,” explains a sleep coach. “Lacking the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to recline and essentially instruct yourself to fall asleep. There must be a natural inclination there to start the process to begin with. For me, it's possible to take a nap in full light and wake up naturally without a timer, but what helps most folks is to wait for an instance where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and should your choices are limited – for example, if you’re trying to grab some shut-eye while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine with bringing a few tools. “In my work with footballers, I recommend that they not rely on their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
