The Secret for an Ideal Kip: When, Location and for How Long?
Tune into enough self-improvement gurus, and it’s simple to believe that dozing is a superpower: rather than a band-aid after restless night, but a shortcut to enhanced cognition, improved mood and perhaps improved athletic performance. Premier League footballers swear by it – and so are concert pianists, fighters and business leaders. However, if you lack a room for napping or a job that encourages daytime sleep, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a quick nap for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Can you find a reliable way to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling improved, not worse?
Identifying The Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three key drivers for daytime sleep in the adult population,” says an expert sleep science specialist. “The first is known as make-up sleep, essentially what happens following poor sleep the night before. Another is preparatory napping, where you are preparing for a sleep deficit in the future, for instance if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially boils down to desire: you have an opportunity to nap during the day, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The primary task to undertake, then, is to examine why you want to nap. “Naps can be really helpful when overnight rest gets interrupted because of factors you cannot change – such as, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” says a sleep physiologist. “But if you nap as your nighttime sleep is unstable or unreliable, that can be a signal your body's sleep pressure is not at the level it should be. In such situations, naps can become part of the problem, instead of the fix. Use napping for brief periods for temporary issues – the main goal must always be a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
Therefore that naps shouldn’t be long enough to interfere with your sleep at night, and best should not occur after about 3pm (contingent on the time you retire overnight). How long is sensible? Advice differs. In one of a prominent study on the subject, space agency scientists discovered that astronauts had up to a 54% increase in alertness and a 34% increase in performance after a 26-minute nap (in detail, this counted a six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals are asleep within 10 minutes,” says a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of recommendations concerning the perfect length of time, but that tends to cause people to feel more anxious than anything – and the worst thing you can possibly do when trying to fall asleep is worry about it.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that promotes sleep grogginess, that foggy state when you wake. “Research would say it is preferable to have a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” explains the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is enough time to put you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel sluggish when you get up – while if you extend it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to be completing a full cycle and should awaken feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it may impact the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Establishing the Right Nap Environment
As for specific techniques, suggestions are diverse. Some experts suggest employing the same protocol you’d use to foster restful sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as you can manage. Others suggest that one could just doze on a couch in the existing light is present – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bed as the place you associate with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to force,” explains a sleep coach. “Without any drowsiness, it becomes harder to lie down and practically command yourself to nod off. There must be some drive present to bring the sleep on in the first place. For me, it's possible to take a nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally alarm-free, but what helps a lot of people is to look for a time that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and calmly allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and when options are scarce – for instance, when aiming to fit in some shut-eye during a commute or at the office – there’s nothing wrong with bringing sleep aids. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I suggest that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
