Hear enough self-improvement gurus, and you'll be simple to convince yourself that napping is a powerful tool: rather than a sticking plaster after a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut towards improved recall, improved mood and possibly improved athletic performance. Elite athletes do it regularly – and so are musicians, fighters and business leaders. However, if you don't have a dedicated nap-room or a career that allows regular snoozing, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a quick nap to merit the effort? Does there exist a reliable way to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling improved, not worse?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“There are three main reasons for taking a nap in the adult population,” says a leading circadian rhythm specialist. “One is known as make-up sleep, which is what happens after experiencing poor sleep the night before. Another is pre-emptive sleep, where you are preparing for sleep loss coming up, for example during on night shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which simply comes down to desire: you have a moment to sleep during the day, and it feels nice to do it.”
The first thing to do, therefore, is to examine your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when night sleeping is disturbed due to causes outside your control – such as, when you are a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from illness or strenuous activity,” says a sleep expert. “Yet when you take a nap as your nighttime sleep feels fragile or poor, that is frequently a signal your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as it needs to be. In such situations, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the main goal should still be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
Therefore that daytime sleep shouldn’t be too extended to affect your nighttime sleep, and ideally shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (contingent on when you go to bed at night). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most-cited studies on the subject, researchers at Nasa noted that space travelers had up to a 54% increase in attentiveness and a 34% increase in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this included a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “My advice is setting an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals fall asleep quickly,” notes a sleep expert. “You'll find much guidance out there about the ideal number of minutes, but that tends to lead individuals to become more anxious than anything – and the least helpful action you can do while aiming to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that promotes sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling when you awaken. “Studies would say it’s better to opt for a lengthier snooze 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 put you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel sluggish when you wake up – whereas if you nap for slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be completing of a sleep cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more refreshed. However, if you nap for an hour and a half, it will affect how you sleep in the evening.”
Establishing an Ideal Nap Environment
Regarding exact methodologies, advice differs. Some experts propose using comparable habits you use to encourage restful sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and minimal light as possible. Others suggest that it's fine to simply nap on a couch in whatever light is available – both to discourage sleep inertia and to preserve your bedroom as the environment you associate with *real* sleep. “Sleep is something really tricky to force,” explains a sleep coach. “Without the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to recline and essentially command yourself to nod off. You need some drive available to start the process initially. Personally, I can often take a nap during the day and awaken on my own without a timer, however, what assists many individuals is to anticipate a moment when they are naturally slightly tired and just gently ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and when your choices are limited – for example, when aiming to fit in a quick nap on a train or at the office – it's acceptable to use sleep aids. “Coaching footballers, I advise that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
