The Secret to an Ideal Kip: When, Location and for How Long?
Tune into a few performance gurus, and you'll be easy to convince yourself that a nap is a superpower: not just a quick fix following poor sleep, but a route towards a better memory, better spirits and perhaps improved athletic performance. Elite soccer players are all at it – along with concert pianists, UFC champions & media moguls. But if you don't have a room for napping or a career that permits regular snoozing, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye to justify the hassle? Does there exist a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you honestly promise you will get up feeling refreshed, not worse?
Identifying Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three primary motivations for napping for many people,” notes a professor of sleep and circadian science researcher. “The first is what we call make-up sleep, essentially the action you take after experiencing a lack of sleep the previous night. Another is prophylactic napping, which involves anticipating sleep loss coming up, such as if you’re working overnight shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically comes down to wanting: you get a moment to sleep in the daytime, and it feels nice to do it.”
The first thing to do, then, is consider why you want to nap. “Napping can be genuinely useful when overnight rest gets interrupted because of factors you cannot change – such as, for a parent of a newborn, or recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep specialist. “But if you nap since your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or broken, that’s often a signal your body's sleep pressure is not where it should be. In those cases, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the focus ought to remain a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Perfect Nap Length
Therefore that daytime sleep must not be too extended to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and preferably are not recommended in the late afternoon (contingent on when you go to bed overnight). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. From a prominent study about napping, space agency scientists discovered that space travelers experienced improvements of over 50% in attentiveness and a 34% boost in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this included a six-minute long nodding-off period). “I recommend using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – most people are asleep in under ten minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “There is plenty of advice around regarding the ideal number of minutes, yet that often cause people to feel more anxious above all – and the most counterproductive thing you can do when attempting to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that encourages sleep grogginess, that foggy state upon waking. “Research would say it’s better to opt for a longer nap of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” notes the expert. “45 minutes is long enough to plunge you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel sluggish when you wake up – while if you take it a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing a full cycle and are likely to get up feeling more refreshed. Though if you nap for a long period, it may impact the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Creating the Right Sleep Space
Regarding exact methodologies, advice differs. A few professionals suggest employing comparable habits one would use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and as much darkness as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to simply nap on the sofa in the existing light happens to be around – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to maintain your bedroom as the place your brain links with *real* sleep. “Napping is something really tricky to force,” notes a sleep coach. “Lacking the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to get comfortable and essentially instruct yourself to go to sleep. There must be a natural inclination present to initiate sleep to begin with. I can usually snooze during the day and wake up naturally without an alarm, but what helps many individuals is to anticipate a moment when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and calmly allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if your choices are limited – for instance, if attempting to squeeze in a quick nap while traveling or in a work pod – it's acceptable to employ sleep aids. “When I’m working with footballers, I advise that they not rely on their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
