The Key to an Ideal Nap: Timing, Location and Duration?
Hear a few self-improvement experts, and it’s tempting to convince yourself that a nap is a secret weapon: not just a sticking plaster after restless night, but a route to a better memory, improved mood and maybe improved athletic performance. Elite footballers swear by it – and so are musicians, mixed martial artists and media moguls. But if you don't have a special sleep space or employment that allows frequent naps, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a quick nap to merit the kerfuffle? Can you find a dependable method to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you will get up feeling better, rather than worse?
Identifying Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three main reasons for daytime sleep in the adult population,” notes a professor of sleep science professor. “One is what we call recovery napping, which is the action you take when you’ve had insufficient sleep the previous night. The second is pre-emptive sleep, where you are preparing for insufficient sleep in the future, for instance if you’re working overnight shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which essentially is about the wish: there is a chance to sleep in the daytime, and it feels nice to nap.”
The first thing to do, so, is to examine your reason for napping. “Napping can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is disturbed because of factors you cannot change – for instance, if you’re a new parent, or if you are healing after being ill or intense exercise,” explains a sleep expert. “Yet when you’re napping as your sleep at night seems unreliable or poor, that’s often a sign your need for sleep is not at the level it needs to be. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, instead of the fix. Employ naps as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the priority should still be a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
Therefore that napping must not be long enough to interfere with your sleep at night, and best shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (depending on when you sleep at night). How long is sensible? Advice differs. In one of a prominent study on the subject, researchers at Nasa discovered that space travelers showed improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% increase in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this counted a six-minute long sleep onset time). “I recommend setting a timer for half an hour or less – most people fall asleep quickly,” says a specialist. “There’s a lot of guidance out there regarding the ideal number of minutes, but that tends to make people feel more worried than anything – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when trying to nod off is to be anxious.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes sleep inertia, that foggy state when you awaken. “Studies indicates it's more effective to opt for an extended nap of one to one and a half hours compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – however, if you nap for slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to be on the end of a sleep cycle and will probably wake up feeling more refreshed. But if you nap for 90 minutes, it can influence the quality of your sleep that night.”
Creating an Ideal Sleep Space
Regarding precise methods, advice differs. A few professionals propose employing the same protocol one would use to encourage restful sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as you can manage. Others suggest that you should merely snooze in a chair with ambient lighting happens to be around – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to “protect” your bedroom as the place your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Napping is quite challenging to force,” says a specialist. “Lacking any sleepiness, it is more challenging to get comfortable and essentially command yourself to go to sleep. There must be some drive present to start the process initially. For me, it's possible to take a nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up alarm-free, however, what assists most folks is to anticipate a moment that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if options are scarce – for instance, if you’re trying to fit in a quick nap while traveling or in a work pod – it's acceptable to employ a few tools. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
