Listen to plenty of performance podcasters, and you'll be tempting to think that dozing is a powerful tool: not just a sticking plaster following restless night, but a route to improved recall, better spirits and possibly quicker running times. Professional soccer players are all at it – along with concert pianists, UFC champions and business leaders. However, if you lack a special sleep space or a career that encourages frequent naps, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye to merit the hassle? Can you find a dependable method to fall asleep fast? And can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling improved, rather than worse?
Exploring Your Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three primary motivations for daytime sleep in the adult population,” explains a leading circadian rhythm specialist. “Firstly, there's termed recovery napping, which is the action you take after experiencing poor sleep the night before. The second is prophylactic napping, when you are preparing for insufficient sleep coming up, such as if you’re working overnight shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which basically comes down to the wish: you get a chance to nap in the afternoon, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The initial step to undertake, so, is to examine your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when overnight rest is disturbed because of factors outside your control – for example, if you’re a new parent, or if you are healing from illness or strenuous activity,” says a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you take a nap because your nighttime sleep is unstable or poor, that’s often a signal your sleep drive is not at the level it needs to be. In such situations, naps can become part of the problem, not the solution. Use napping as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the main goal should still be a robust and regular night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This means that daytime sleep ought not to be too extended to interfere with your overnight rest, and preferably shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (depending on what time you go to bed overnight). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, space agency scientists discovered that astronauts had improvements of over 50% in attentiveness and a 34% boost in performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this involved a six-minute long sleep onset time). “I recommend setting a timer for half an hour or less – most people are asleep within 10 minutes,” says a specialist. “There’s a lot of recommendations about the optimal amount for sleeping, yet that often lead individuals to become more stressed than anything – and the worst thing you can possibly do when attempting to get to sleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “Research would say it is preferable to have an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” notes the expert. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to plunge you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel groggy when you wake up – whereas if you take it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to finish a natural sleep cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more alert. But if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it can influence how you sleep in the evening.”
Creating the Perfect Sleep Space
Regarding exact methodologies, advice differs. A few professionals suggest employing similar routines you’d use to promote quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and minimal light as is feasible. Some advise that it's fine to just doze on a couch with ambient lighting is available – to avoid that groggy feeling and to “protect” your bedroom as the space your brain links with *real* sleep. “Sleep is something really tricky to will,” says a sleep coach. “Lacking any sleepiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and basically instruct yourself to fall asleep. You need a natural inclination present to bring the sleep on to begin with. For me, it's possible to take a nap in full light and wake up naturally alarm-free, though, what aids many individuals is to anticipate an instance that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when you have few options – such as, when aiming to fit in a quick nap on a train or at the office – it's acceptable to employ some accessories. “When I’m working with footballers, I suggest that they not rely on napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
