The Formula for a Perfect Kip: Timing, Location and for How Long?
Listen to a few self-improvement experts, and you'll be easy to believe that a nap is a superpower: rather than a band-aid after a bad night’s sleep, but a path towards enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and possibly improved athletic performance. Professional athletes do it regularly – and so are concert pianists, UFC champions & high-profile executives. But if you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or a career that permits daytime sleep, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the effort? Does there exist a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you really guarantee you will get up feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Exploring Your Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three main reasons for taking a nap among most adults,” says a professor of sleep science researcher. “Firstly, there's what we call make-up sleep, which is what happens following poor sleep the night before. The second is prophylactic napping, when you are preparing for a sleep deficit ahead, for example if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which basically comes down to the wish: there is an opportunity to nap during the day, and it feels nice to nap.”
The primary task to consider, therefore, is consider your reason for napping. “Napping can be really helpful when nighttime sleep gets interrupted for reasons beyond your control – for example, for a new parent, or you’re recovering after being ill or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep physiologist. “But if you take a nap since your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or unreliable, that’s often a signal your body's sleep pressure is not where required. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, rather than the answer. Employ naps for brief periods to address immediate needs – the focus must always be a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This means that naps must not be long enough to interfere with your overnight rest, and preferably shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (based on the time you retire at night). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. From a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa found that astronauts had a boost of up to 54% in vigilance and a 34% boost in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this involved a six-minute long nodding-off period). “I recommend setting a timer for half an hour or less – most people are asleep in under ten minutes,” explains a specialist. “There’s a lot of advice around regarding the ideal number for sleeping, but that tends to make people feel more stressed than anything else – and the least helpful action you can possibly do when trying to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Studies indicates it’s better to opt for a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the professor. “45 minutes is enough time to plunge you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel sluggish upon awakening – whereas if you nap for a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing a full cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you’re sleeping for a long period, it can influence the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Creating the Right Sleep Space
When it comes to specific techniques, recommendations vary. Some experts suggest employing the same protocol you use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as is feasible. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to just doze on a couch with ambient lighting happens to be around – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to maintain your bedroom as the environment you associate with proper sleep. “Sleep is something really tricky to command,” notes an expert. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it is tougher to recline and basically tell yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some sleep pressure present to bring the sleep on to begin with. For me, it's possible to take a nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up without an alarm, though, what aids most folks is to anticipate an instance where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently ease into sleep.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when you have few options – such as, if attempting to squeeze in 40 winks while traveling or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong to employ some accessories. “When I’m working with footballers, I recommend that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, as they’re going to have|they will
