Hear a few performance gurus, making it easy to convince yourself that dozing is a superpower: more than a sticking plaster following restless night, but a shortcut towards improved recall, improved mood and perhaps quicker running times. Premier League athletes swear by it – and so are musicians, mixed martial artists & high-profile executives. However, if you don't have a special sleep space or a job that encourages regular snoozing, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a short sleep to justify the hassle? Can you find a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you will get up feeling improved, not worse?
Exploring Your Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three main reasons for napping in the adult population,” explains a professor of sleep and circadian science professor. “The first is what we call compensatory napping, that is the action you take following poor sleep the night before. Secondly, there's pre-emptive sleep, which involves preparing for sleep loss coming up, for example if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply is about desire: there is a chance to sleep during the day, and it's pleasant to indulge.”
The initial step to do, therefore, is to think about your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted due to causes beyond your control – for instance, for a new parent, or recovering after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you’re napping since your sleep at night seems unreliable or unreliable, that is frequently a sign your need for sleep is not as strong as required. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the problem, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods for short-term problems – the main goal ought to remain a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
Therefore that napping must not be long enough to affect your overnight rest, and best shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (contingent on what time you sleep in the evening). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. In one of the most-cited studies about napping, space agency scientists discovered that astronauts showed up to a 54% increase in alertness and a 34% increase in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this involved a six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend using an alarm for half an hour or less – the majority doze off within 10 minutes,” explains a specialist. “There’s a lot of advice around about the perfect length of minutes, however, that can lead individuals to become more stressed than anything – and the worst thing one can do when trying to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that promotes sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “Research suggests it’s better to opt for an extended nap of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” notes the professor. “45 minutes is long enough to send you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel groggy upon awakening – while if you extend it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be completing a full cycle and will probably wake up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you're dozing for a long period, it may impact your sleep that night.”
Finding the Perfect Snooze Setting
Regarding precise methods, recommendations vary. A few professionals propose employing similar routines you’d use to foster a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Some advise that it's fine to just doze on the sofa in whatever light is available – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the space you associate with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to will,” explains an expert. “Without any drowsiness, it is tougher to get comfortable and essentially command yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be some drive available to initiate sleep to begin with. Personally, I can often take a nap during the day and awaken on my own without a timer, but what helps many individuals is to anticipate a moment that they’re naturally slightly tired and then simply allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when options are scarce – such as, if you’re trying to grab 40 winks while traveling or in a work pod – it's acceptable to employ sleep aids. “In my work with footballers, I advise that they don’t get used to napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will
