The Key for an Ideal Snooze: When, Location and Duration?
Listen to enough self-improvement gurus, and you'll be tempting to think that napping is a powerful tool: rather than a band-aid following poor sleep, but a shortcut to a better memory, better spirits and maybe a faster 5k run time. Professional athletes do it regularly – along with musicians, mixed martial artists and high-profile executives. However, if you lack a room for napping or employment that permits regular snoozing, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye to justify the hassle? Can you find a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, not worse?
Identifying The Nap Motivation
“We can identify three main reasons for napping for many people,” explains a leading sleep and circadian science specialist. “The first is known as make-up sleep, which is the action you take following poor sleep the previous night. The second is pre-emptive sleep, where you are preparing for sleep loss in the future, such as when working overnight shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically comes down to the wish: there is a chance to nap in the daytime, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The first thing to do, so, is consider your nap motivation. “Napping can be really helpful when night sleeping is being disrupted due to causes outside your control – for instance, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from sickness or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep specialist. “However, if you’re napping because your night sleep is unstable or broken, that can be a signal your sleep drive is not as strong as it needs to be. In such situations, daytime sleep can turn into a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods for temporary issues – the focus should still be a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Optimal Snooze Time
Therefore that naps must not be too extended to affect your nighttime sleep, and best shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (depending on the time you retire in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa discovered that astronauts experienced a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this counted a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “My advice is setting an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals fall asleep quickly,” says a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of recommendations concerning the perfect length of time, but that tends to cause people to feel more worried than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing one can do while aiming to nod off is worry about it.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, steer clear of the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “Research indicates it’s better to opt for an extended nap of one to one and a half hours rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the professor. “45 minutes is enough time to send you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you get up – whereas if you take it slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to finish of a sleep cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more rejuvenated. But if you nap for an hour and a half, it can influence how you sleep in the evening.”
Creating the Right Nap Environment
When it comes to specific techniques, suggestions are diverse. Some experts suggest employing similar routines one would use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as possible. Some advise that it's fine to just doze in a chair in whatever light is available – to avoid sleep inertia and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the environment your brain links with *real* sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to command,” notes a specialist. “Without any sleepiness, it is more challenging to recline and essentially command yourself to nod off. There must be some sleep pressure present to bring the sleep on to begin with. I can usually nap during the day and naturally wake up alarm-free, however, what assists a lot of people is to look for a moment when they are naturally slightly tired and just gently relax into it.”
Experimentation is key, and should you have few options – such as, when aiming to fit in a quick nap during a commute or at the office – it is perfectly fine with bringing a few tools. “When I’m working with professional sportspeople, I recommend that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
