The Secret for a Flawless Snooze: Timing, Location and for How Long?
Hear plenty of performance podcasters, and it’s tempting to believe that napping is a secret weapon: rather than a sticking plaster after poor sleep, but a shortcut to improved recall, better spirits and maybe improved athletic performance. Premier League soccer players do it regularly – and so are professional piano players, mixed martial artists and media moguls. Yet, when you haven’t got a room for napping or a career that encourages daytime sleep, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Is there a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you will arise feeling better, rather than worse?
Identifying The Nap Motivation
“There are three key drivers for taking a nap for many people,” explains a leading circadian rhythm researcher. “One is what we call make-up sleep, essentially the action you take after experiencing poor sleep the previous night. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, which involves preparing for a sleep deficit coming up, for instance if you’re working on night shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which basically is about the wish: there is an opportunity to sleep in the afternoon, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The first thing to consider, then, is to think about why you want to nap. “Napping can be genuinely useful when overnight rest gets interrupted for reasons outside your control – for instance, when you are a new parent, or you’re recovering from sickness or intense exercise,” says a sleep specialist. “But if you nap because your sleep at night seems unreliable or poor, that’s often a sign your sleep drive is not as strong as it should be. In those cases, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, not the solution. Use napping as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the main goal should still be a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Perfect Nap Duration
Therefore that daytime sleep ought not to be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your overnight rest, and preferably are not recommended in the late afternoon (depending on when you sleep overnight). What duration is wise? Recommendations vary. From the most referenced research on the subject, researchers at Nasa noted that astronauts experienced up to a 54% increase in vigilance plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this included an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – the majority are asleep quickly,” notes a sleep coach. “You'll find much guidance out there concerning the perfect length for sleeping, however, that can make people feel more worried above all – and the least helpful action one can do while aiming to fall asleep is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to nap for a longer period, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “Studies indicates it's more effective to have a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” says the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is long enough to send you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel sluggish when you wake up – however, if you extend it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to finish a full cycle and should awaken feeling more rejuvenated. But if you're dozing for a long period, it will affect how you sleep in the evening.”
Establishing an Ideal Nap Environment
Regarding exact methodologies, recommendations vary. A few professionals recommend employing comparable habits you’d use to promote restful sleep: a silent space, a cozy bed and as much darkness as possible. Others suggest that it's fine to merely snooze on the sofa in the existing light happens to be around – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the environment you associate with proper sleep. “Napping is something really tricky to force,” explains a sleep coach. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it is more challenging to lie down and essentially instruct yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination available to bring the sleep on in the first place. Personally, I can often take a nap in full light and wake up naturally without an alarm, though, what aids many individuals is to wait for a moment that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should options are scarce – for example, if attempting to fit in 40 winks on a train or in a work pod – it's acceptable with bringing a few tools. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will
