The Secret for an Ideal Kip: Timing, Where and Duration?
Listen to a few self-improvement podcasters, and it’s easy to believe that a nap is a secret weapon: more than a sticking plaster after a bad night’s sleep, but a route to improved recall, better spirits and possibly a faster 5k run time. Professional athletes do it regularly – and so are professional piano players, mixed martial artists and media moguls. Yet, when you don't have a special sleep space or a job that allows daytime sleep, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a quick nap to justify the hassle? Does there exist a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, not worse?
Identifying Your Nap Motivation
“Experts note three primary motivations for napping in the adult population,” notes a professor of sleep and circadian science professor. “Firstly, there's known as make-up sleep, that is the action you take following insufficient sleep the previous night. Another is preparatory napping, which involves pre-empting sleep loss ahead, for instance if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which basically boils down to the wish: there is a moment to sleep during the day, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The initial step to undertake, so, is consider why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when overnight rest is being disrupted for reasons beyond your control – for instance, if you’re caring for an infant, or if you are healing from sickness or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep expert. “Yet when you’re napping because your night sleep seems unreliable or unreliable, that is frequently a sign your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as it should be. Under those circumstances, napping can become a contributing factor, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the main goal must always be a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This means that napping must not be long enough to interfere with your overnight rest, and ideally shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (contingent on when you go to bed at night). What duration is wise? Advice differs. In one of the most-cited studies on the subject, researchers at Nasa noted that crew members showed a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness and a 34% boost in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (technically, this included an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “My advice is using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – many individuals are asleep quickly,” notes a specialist. “You'll find much recommendations about the perfect length for sleeping, however, that can make people feel more worried above all – and the least helpful action you can do when attempting to fall asleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “The science indicates it’s better to opt for an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to send you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented when you wake up – while if you take it a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to be on the end a full cycle and should wake up feeling more refreshed. However, if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it will affect how you sleep later that night.”
Establishing an Ideal Nap Environment
Regarding exact methodologies, recommendations vary. Some experts propose using the same protocol you’d use to promote a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and as much darkness as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to merely snooze on the sofa in the existing light is present – to prevent sleep inertia and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the space your brain links with *real* sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to will,” says a specialist. “Lacking any sleepiness, it becomes harder to lie down and essentially command yourself to go to sleep. There must be some drive there to start the process initially. I can usually snooze during the day and naturally wake up without an alarm, though, what aids most folks is to look for a moment where they feel naturally slightly tired and then simply allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if your choices are limited – such as, if attempting to squeeze in 40 winks while traveling or at the office – there’s nothing wrong to employ some accessories. “When I’m working with professional sportspeople, I advise that they not rely on their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
