The Secret to a Perfect Snooze: When, Location & Duration?
Hear enough self-improvement gurus, and you'll be tempting to think that dozing is a powerful tool: not just a sticking plaster following a bad night’s sleep, but a route towards enhanced cognition, better spirits and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Professional soccer players are all at it – and so are musicians, fighters & high-profile executives. But if you lack a special sleep space or a job that permits regular snoozing, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a short sleep to justify the effort? Can you find a reliable way to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Exploring Your Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three main reasons for napping in the adult population,” explains a leading sleep and circadian science specialist. “One is known as compensatory napping, which is what happens after experiencing poor sleep overnight. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, which involves anticipating a sleep deficit coming up, for instance when working on night shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which essentially boils down to the wish: you get a moment to doze in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The primary task to consider, therefore, is to think about your nap motivation. “Naps can be genuinely useful when overnight rest is disturbed due to causes you cannot change – for instance, when you are caring for an infant, or you’re recovering after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you’re napping because your sleep at night is unstable or poor, that can be a sign your sleep drive is not at the level it needs to be. Under those circumstances, napping can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Use napping as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the priority must always be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This implies that daytime sleep shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your sleep at night, and best shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (contingent on when you retire in the evening). What duration is wise? Recommendations vary. From a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, experts noted that astronauts showed improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% increase in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this included a six-minute falling asleep phase). “My advice is using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals doze off quickly,” says a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of advice around about the ideal number for sleeping, but that tends to make people feel more stressed than anything else – and the worst thing you can do when trying to fall asleep is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that encourages sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “Studies indicates it’s better to opt for an extended nap of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” notes the professor. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to plunge you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you wake up – however, if you extend it a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing of a sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more refreshed. However, if you nap for a long period, it will affect your sleep in the evening.”
Creating the Right Sleep Space
Regarding specific techniques, advice differs. A few professionals recommend using the same protocol you use to promote a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as is feasible. Some advise that it's fine to merely snooze in a chair with ambient lighting happens to be around – to prevent that groggy feeling and to preserve your bedroom as the space your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to command,” says an expert. “Lacking any sleepiness, it becomes harder to recline and essentially command yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be some drive available to bring the sleep on in the first place. I can usually nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up without a timer, however, what assists many individuals is to anticipate an instance where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and if your choices are limited – such as, if you’re trying to fit in some shut-eye while traveling or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine with bringing some accessories. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
