Tune into enough productivity podcasters, and it’s tempting to believe that dozing is a secret weapon: not just a sticking plaster after poor sleep, but a path to enhanced cognition, better spirits and possibly improved athletic performance. Elite athletes swear by it – and so are musicians, mixed martial artists and media moguls. However, if you haven’t got a special sleep space or a career that encourages regular snoozing, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a short sleep to justify the kerfuffle? Is there a reliable way to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you will arise feeling better, instead of groggy?
Exploring Your Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three main reasons for taking a nap for many people,” says a leading sleep and circadian science professor. “The first is termed make-up sleep, that is the action you take after experiencing poor sleep overnight. Another is preparatory napping, where you are pre-empting sleep loss coming up, such as during on night shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply boils down to the wish: you get a chance to sleep in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The initial step to do, then, is consider your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is disturbed due to causes outside your control – for instance, when you are a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep specialist. “However, if you nap as your night sleep feels fragile or unreliable, that is frequently a sign your need for sleep is not at the level required. In such situations, naps can become part of the problem, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods for short-term problems – the priority should still be a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
This implies that napping ought not to be long enough to disrupt your nighttime sleep, and ideally shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (contingent on when you sleep in the evening). How long is sensible? Advice differs. Among a prominent study on the subject, experts noted that astronauts experienced improvements of over 50% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this involved a six-minute sleep onset time). “My advice is setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority are asleep within 10 minutes,” explains a sleep expert. “There is plenty of recommendations regarding the perfect length of minutes, yet that often lead individuals to become more worried above all – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when attempting to fall asleep is to be anxious.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages sleep inertia, that foggy state when you awaken. “The science would say it’s better to opt for a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” explains the professor. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to put you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel disoriented when you get up – whereas if you nap for a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing of a sleep cycle and will probably get up feeling more rejuvenated. But if you're dozing for an hour and a half, it may impact the quality of your sleep that night.”
Creating the Perfect Snooze Setting
Regarding precise methods, advice differs. A few professionals recommend employing similar routines you use to promote a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as you can manage. Others suggest that it's fine to simply nap on the sofa in the existing light is available – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the space your mind associates with proper sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to command,” says a specialist. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is tougher to recline and practically tell yourself to nod off. There must be some sleep pressure present to initiate sleep to begin with. I can usually take a nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up alarm-free, however, what assists many individuals is to anticipate a time when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly relax into it.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when options are scarce – for example, when aiming to squeeze in some shut-eye on a train or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine to employ some accessories. “Coaching elite athletes, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
