Listen to enough productivity experts, making it easy to convince yourself that napping is a secret weapon: rather than a band-aid after restless night, but a path to improved recall, better spirits and maybe quicker running times. Premier League footballers do it regularly – along with musicians, fighters & business leaders. However, if you don't have a special sleep space or a job that encourages regular snoozing, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye to merit the kerfuffle? Is there a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you will get up feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Understanding Your Nap Motivation
“Experts note three key drivers for taking a nap in the adult population,” says a professor of sleep and circadian science researcher. “Firstly, there's what we call recovery napping, essentially what happens when you’ve had a lack of sleep the previous night. Secondly, there's pre-emptive sleep, which involves anticipating insufficient sleep in the future, such as when working on night shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which simply comes down to the wish: you get an opportunity to doze in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The first thing to undertake, then, is to examine your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when overnight rest is disturbed for reasons outside your control – for example, for caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep expert. “However, if you’re napping as your sleep at night feels fragile or poor, that can be a sign your sleep drive is not at the level required. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the main goal ought to remain a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
Therefore that napping must not be long enough to interfere with your sleep at night, and ideally are not recommended in the late afternoon (contingent on when you sleep overnight). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. In one of a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, experts found that crew members showed a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this counted an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – most people fall asleep in under ten minutes,” explains a specialist. “There is plenty of recommendations concerning the ideal number of minutes, but that tends to make people feel more anxious than anything – and the least helpful action you can possibly do when attempting to fall asleep is worry about it.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces sleep grogginess, that foggy state when you awaken. “The science suggests it is preferable to take a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” explains the expert. “45 minutes is sufficient to send you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel groggy when you wake up – whereas if you extend it a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing of a sleep cycle and will probably wake up feeling more refreshed. However, if you’re sleeping for a long period, it can influence the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Sleep Space
Regarding precise methods, recommendations vary. Some experts suggest adopting comparable habits you’d use to encourage restful sleep: a silent space, a cozy bed and minimal light as you can manage. Others suggest that it's fine to just doze on a couch with ambient lighting is present – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to maintain your bedroom as the place your brain links with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to force,” notes a specialist. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it is more challenging to lie down and practically tell yourself to nod off. There must be a natural inclination there to initiate sleep in the first place. For me, it's possible to nap in full light and naturally wake up without a timer, though, what aids most folks is to wait for a time when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and if options are scarce – such as, if attempting to grab a quick nap on a train or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong to use a few tools. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I advise that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
