The Secret to an Ideal Snooze: Timing, Location and Duration?

Tune into a few performance gurus, making it simple to believe that a nap is a superpower: not just a sticking plaster following a bad night’s sleep, but a route towards improved recall, a brighter outlook and possibly improved athletic performance. Premier League soccer players do it regularly – and so are concert pianists, fighters & business leaders. Yet, when you don't have a room for napping or a career that permits frequent naps, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a short sleep to justify the hassle? Does there exist a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling better, rather than worse?

Understanding The Reasons for Napping

“Experts note three primary motivations for napping in the adult population,” says a professor of sleep science researcher. “Firstly, there's termed compensatory napping, essentially the action you take after experiencing a lack of sleep the previous night. Another is prophylactic napping, when you are preparing for insufficient sleep ahead, such as during graveyard shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially is about desire: you get a chance to doze during the day, and it's pleasant to nap.”

The initial step to undertake, then, is to think about why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when night sleeping is disturbed because of factors beyond your control – such as, for caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from illness or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep physiologist. “However, if you nap since your sleep at night is unstable or broken, that can be a signal your need for sleep is not where it should be. In those cases, naps can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Use napping for brief periods for short-term problems – the priority must always be a strong and predictable sleep at night.”

The Ideal Nap Duration

This means that napping shouldn’t be too extended to affect your sleep at night, and ideally are not recommended after about 3pm (contingent on what time you go to bed at night). What duration is wise? Advice differs. From the most referenced research about napping, space agency scientists noted that space travelers had improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% increase in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this involved an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “My advice is using an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals fall asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “You'll find much recommendations concerning the perfect length of minutes, however, that can cause people to feel more stressed than anything – and the worst thing you can possibly do when attempting to nod off is worry about it.”

If you plan to sleep for longer, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “Studies suggests it’s better to take an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” explains the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to put you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel groggy when you get up – while if you nap for a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and should get up feeling more alert. Though if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it can influence how you sleep in the evening.”

Finding an Ideal Nap Environment

Regarding precise methods, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals suggest employing the same protocol you’d use to promote restful sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and as much darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that one could just doze on a couch in the existing light happens to be around – both to discourage sleep inertia and to preserve your bed as the space you associate with *real* sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to command,” notes an expert. “Lacking any drowsiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and basically command yourself to go to sleep. There must be a natural inclination available to start the process in the first place. Personally, I can often snooze during the day and wake up naturally alarm-free, though, what aids a lot of people is to look for an instance where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently ease into sleep.”

It’s worth experimenting, and when your choices are limited – such as, when aiming to squeeze in a quick nap during a commute or in a work pod – it's acceptable with bringing sleep aids. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I suggest that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will