The Formula to a Flawless Kip: Timing, Where & for How Long?
Hear enough productivity gurus, and you'll be easy to convince yourself that napping is a powerful tool: rather than a quick fix after restless night, but a route towards enhanced cognition, improved mood and possibly quicker running times. Premier League footballers swear by it – and so are musicians, fighters & business leaders. Yet, when you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or a job that allows frequent naps, are there *really* enough benefits to a quick nap to merit the hassle? Is there a reliable way to nod off promptly? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you will get up feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Understanding Your Nap Motivation
“There are three primary motivations for taking a nap for many people,” says a professor of sleep science professor. “One is termed recovery napping, which is what you do when you’ve had poor sleep the night before. Secondly, there's pre-emptive sleep, where you are anticipating a sleep deficit ahead, for instance when working on night shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which essentially is about the wish: you have a chance to sleep in the afternoon, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The first thing to do, then, is to examine your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when overnight rest gets interrupted for reasons beyond your control – for instance, for a parent of a newborn, or recovering after being ill or strenuous activity,” states a sleep physiologist. “However, if you nap since your sleep at night is unstable or unreliable, that is frequently a signal your body's sleep pressure is not where required. Under those circumstances, naps can become a contributing factor, not the solution. Employ naps for brief periods for temporary issues – the priority should still be a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This implies that daytime sleep must not be long enough to interfere with your overnight rest, and preferably are not recommended after about 3pm (depending on when you sleep overnight). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. Among the most referenced research about napping, researchers at Nasa discovered that space travelers experienced a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this counted an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “I recommend setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority doze off within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “You'll find much recommendations concerning the ideal number for sleeping, yet that often cause people to feel more worried than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing you can do when attempting to get to sleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, bypass the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes sleep grogginess, that foggy state when you awaken. “The science indicates it’s better to have an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to put you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel sluggish upon awakening – while if you extend it a little longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to finish a full cycle and are likely to get up feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you nap for a long period, it will affect your sleep in the evening.”
Creating an Ideal Nap Environment
As for precise methods, advice differs. Some experts recommend adopting similar routines you use to promote restful sleep: a quiet room, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that one could merely snooze in a chair in the existing light is available – both to discourage sleep inertia and to “protect” your bed as the place you associate with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to force,” notes a sleep coach. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to get comfortable and essentially instruct yourself to nod off. There’s got to be a natural inclination present to start the process in the first place. Personally, I can often take a nap in broad daylight and awaken on my own without an alarm, however, what assists a lot of people is to look for a moment where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and should you have few options – for example, when aiming to squeeze in some shut-eye during a commute or in a work pod – it's acceptable to employ a few tools. “When I’m working with footballers, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
