The Secret for an Ideal Nap: Timing, Location and Duration?
Hear a few productivity experts, and you'll be easy to believe that a nap is a secret weapon: rather than a sticking plaster after a bad night’s sleep, but a route towards improved recall, a brighter outlook and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Elite athletes do it regularly – along with professional piano players, fighters and high-profile executives. But if you haven’t got a room for napping or a job that allows regular snoozing, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a short sleep to justify the effort? Can you find a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you will arise feeling improved, not worse?
Understanding The Reasons for Napping
“There are three key drivers for daytime sleep for many people,” explains a professor of sleep and circadian science specialist. “One is what we call make-up sleep, that is the action you take when you’ve had a lack of sleep the night before. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, which involves anticipating sleep loss in the future, for example during graveyard shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which simply is about wanting: you have a moment to sleep in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The first thing to undertake, so, is consider why you want to nap. “Napping can be genuinely useful when night sleeping gets interrupted for reasons beyond your control – for instance, if you’re caring for an infant, or if you are healing from sickness or strenuous activity,” states a sleep physiologist. “But if you’re napping since your sleep at night feels fragile or broken, that is frequently a sign your body's sleep pressure is not at the level required. Under those circumstances, napping can become part of the issue, rather than the answer. Employ naps for brief periods to address immediate needs – the focus ought to remain a robust and regular night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Nap Length
This means that daytime sleep must not be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your nighttime sleep, and best are not recommended post-3 p.m. (contingent on what time you sleep at night). What duration is wise? Advice differs. Among the most-cited studies on the subject, space agency scientists noted that astronauts experienced up to a 54% increase in alertness plus a 34% rise in performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this included a six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – most people fall asleep in under ten minutes,” says a sleep coach. “You'll find much advice around about the perfect length of minutes, but that tends to make people feel more worried than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when trying to nod off is worry about it.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Research would say it is preferable to opt for a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the professor. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to send you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel sluggish when you get up – while if you take 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 rejuvenated. However, if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it can influence your sleep that night.”
Establishing an Ideal Sleep Space
As for specific techniques, advice differs. A few professionals recommend employing the same protocol you use to promote a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that you should just doze in a chair with ambient lighting is available – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the place you associate with proper sleep. “Sleep is notoriously difficult to will,” explains a sleep coach. “Lacking the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to lie down and essentially tell yourself to nod off. You need some sleep pressure there to initiate sleep initially. Personally, I can often nap in full light and naturally wake up alarm-free, though, what aids many individuals is to look for a time when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and calmly relax into it.”
Experimentation is key, and when options are scarce – such as, if you’re trying to fit in 40 winks while traveling or at the office – there’s nothing wrong with bringing sleep aids. “When I’m working with professional sportspeople, I recommend that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, as they’re going to have|they will
