The Formula for an Ideal Nap: Timing, Where & Duration?
Tune into a few productivity experts, and it’s easy to believe that dozing is a superpower: more than a sticking plaster following restless night, but a route to enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Elite footballers swear by it – as do professional piano players, fighters and media moguls. Yet, when you lack a room for napping or a career that permits daytime sleep, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a quick nap to justify the hassle? Can you find a dependable method to nod off promptly? And can you truly ensure you will arise feeling better, not worse?
Exploring Your Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three primary motivations for napping for many people,” explains an expert sleep and circadian science researcher. “The first is termed recovery napping, which is what you do after experiencing poor sleep the night before. The second is preparatory napping, when you are preparing for sleep loss in the future, for example when working on night shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which basically comes down to the wish: you have a chance to nap in the afternoon, and it feels nice to do it.”
The primary task to undertake, therefore, is consider your nap motivation. “Naps can be really helpful when overnight rest is being disrupted due to causes beyond your control – such as, if you’re caring for an infant, or if you are healing from sickness or intense exercise,” says a sleep specialist. “However, if you’re napping as your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or broken, that can be an indicator your sleep drive is not where it should be. In those cases, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, rather than the answer. Use napping as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the priority must always be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
This implies that daytime sleep must not be long enough to interfere with your sleep at night, and preferably should not occur in the late afternoon (depending on when you retire overnight). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. From the most referenced research on the subject, researchers at Nasa discovered that space travelers showed a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this involved a six-minute long nodding-off period). “I’d suggest using an alarm for half an hour or less – the majority doze off in under ten minutes,” explains a sleep coach. “You'll find much advice around concerning the perfect length of time, but that tends to cause people to feel more worried than anything – and the least helpful action you can do when attempting to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that induces that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “Research would say it is preferable to opt for a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to send you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel disoriented when you wake up – while if you take it a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to finish of a sleep cycle and will probably get up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it will affect the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Finding the Perfect Snooze Setting
As for exact methodologies, recommendations vary. Some experts propose employing comparable habits you use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a cozy bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Some advise that one could simply nap on a couch with ambient lighting is present – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to “protect” your bedroom as the space your brain links with nighttime rest. “Sleep is something really tricky to command,” notes a sleep coach. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and practically tell yourself to go to sleep. You need some sleep pressure present to start the process in the first place. Personally, I can often snooze in broad daylight and wake up naturally without an alarm, however, what assists most folks is to anticipate a moment when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply relax into it.”
Experimentation is key, and should your choices are limited – such as, if you’re trying to grab some shut-eye during a commute or at the office – it's acceptable to employ sleep aids. “When I’m working with professional sportspeople, I suggest that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
