The Key for an Ideal Snooze: Timing, Where & for How Long?
Listen to enough productivity experts, and you'll be tempting to convince yourself that dozing is a powerful tool: rather than a quick fix following a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut to enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Elite athletes do it regularly – as do musicians, mixed martial artists and high-profile executives. But if you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or a career that permits regular snoozing, are there *really* enough benefits to a short sleep to justify the kerfuffle? Is there a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you truly ensure you will get up feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“Experts note three key drivers for taking a nap in the adult population,” explains an expert sleep and circadian science specialist. “One is what we call make-up sleep, essentially what happens after experiencing a lack of sleep the previous night. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, where you are anticipating sleep loss ahead, for example during graveyard shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which basically is about desire: you get a moment to nap in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The first thing to undertake, therefore, is to think about your nap motivation. “Napping can be genuinely useful when overnight rest gets interrupted for reasons you cannot change – such as, for a new parent, or if you are healing from sickness or intense exercise,” says a sleep specialist. “However, if you take a nap because your night sleep feels fragile or poor, that can be a signal your body's sleep pressure is not where required. Under those circumstances, napping can become a contributing factor, instead of the fix. Use napping for brief periods for short-term problems – the priority ought to remain a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
This means that daytime sleep ought not to be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and preferably shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (based on when you retire in the evening). What duration is wise? Advice differs. From the most-cited studies about napping, experts discovered that astronauts had a boost of up to 54% in alertness and a 34% increase in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this counted a six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals fall asleep quickly,” says a specialist. “You'll find much guidance out there regarding the perfect length of minutes, however, that can cause people to feel more anxious than anything – and the worst thing you can possibly do when trying to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that promotes that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Studies suggests it is preferable to take a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” notes the professor. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to plunge you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel sluggish when you wake up – whereas if you extend it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to finish a natural sleep cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more refreshed. But if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it can influence your sleep in the evening.”
Establishing the Perfect Snooze Setting
Regarding exact methodologies, recommendations vary. Certain specialists propose using similar routines you’d use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and as much darkness as possible. Some advise that it's fine to merely snooze on the sofa in the existing light happens to be around – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the environment your mind associates with nighttime rest. “Sleep is something really tricky to command,” says a specialist. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it is tougher to lie down and essentially command yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination present to start the process in the first place. For me, it's possible to take a nap during the day and wake up naturally alarm-free, though, what aids most folks is to look for a moment when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and calmly ease into sleep.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when options are scarce – for example, when aiming to grab 40 winks during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable with bringing sleep aids. “Coaching footballers, I advise that they not rely on napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will
