Hear enough productivity podcasters, making it simple to convince yourself that dozing is a secret weapon: rather than a quick fix following a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut towards a better memory, a brighter outlook and maybe a faster 5k run time. Professional athletes do it regularly – along with musicians, UFC champions and media moguls. However, if you haven’t got a special sleep space or a career that allows regular snoozing, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a short sleep to justify the hassle? Can you find a dependable method to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you will arise feeling better, not worse?
Exploring The Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three main reasons for daytime sleep for many people,” explains a leading sleep and circadian science researcher. “The first is what we call compensatory napping, which is what happens when you’ve had insufficient sleep overnight. Secondly, there's pre-emptive sleep, which involves preparing for a sleep deficit ahead, for instance if you’re working overnight shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which basically comes down to desire: you have a chance to doze in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to indulge.”
The first thing to consider, so, is consider your reason for napping. “Napping can be really helpful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted for reasons beyond your control – such as, when you are a new parent, or you’re recovering after being ill or strenuous activity,” says a sleep specialist. “Yet when you nap since your sleep at night feels fragile or unreliable, that’s often a sign your need for sleep is not as strong as it needs to be. Under those circumstances, naps can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Use napping as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the priority ought to remain a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Optimal Snooze Time
This means that napping must not be too extended to affect your nighttime sleep, and best shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (depending on what time you go to bed at night). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. From a prominent study on the subject, researchers at Nasa found that crew members experienced up to a 54% increase in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this involved an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend setting an alarm for half an hour or less – the majority fall asleep within 10 minutes,” explains a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of guidance out there about the perfect length of time, however, that can lead individuals to become more stressed above all – and the worst thing you can do when attempting to fall asleep is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “The science suggests it's more effective to have an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the professor. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to put you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel sluggish upon awakening – while if you nap for a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be on the end of a sleep cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it may impact how you sleep in the evening.”
Creating an Ideal Nap Environment
As for precise methods, recommendations vary. Certain specialists suggest using similar routines you use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Alternatively, experts propose that one could simply nap in a chair in the existing light happens to be around – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bed as the space you associate with *real* sleep. “Sleep is something really tricky to will,” notes a sleep coach. “Lacking any drowsiness, it is more challenging to lie down and practically tell yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some sleep pressure available to bring the sleep on to begin with. For me, it's possible to snooze during the day and awaken on my own alarm-free, though, what aids most folks is to anticipate an instance when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should options are scarce – for example, if attempting to squeeze in 40 winks on a train or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine to use a few tools. “When I’m working with professional sportspeople, I suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
