The Secret to a Perfect Kip: Timing, Location and Duration?
Tune into enough self-improvement gurus, and you'll be simple to convince yourself that a nap is a secret weapon: not just a band-aid after poor sleep, but a path to enhanced cognition, improved mood and possibly improved athletic performance. Elite athletes are all at it – along with musicians, UFC champions and business leaders. However, if you don't have a dedicated nap-room or employment that permits regular snoozing, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye to justify the effort? Does there exist a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling improved, rather than worse?
Identifying The Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three main reasons for taking a nap in the adult population,” explains an expert circadian rhythm researcher. “Firstly, there's what we call make-up sleep, that is what happens after experiencing a lack of sleep overnight. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, which involves pre-empting insufficient sleep in the future, such as if you’re working on night shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which basically is about the wish: you have a moment to doze in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The primary task to undertake, so, is to think about why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when overnight rest gets interrupted due to causes you cannot change – for example, for a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing after being ill or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you’re napping since your nighttime sleep is unstable or unreliable, that’s often an indicator your need for sleep is not where it needs to be. In those cases, naps can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the focus should still be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Nap Duration
This means that napping ought not to be long enough to interfere with your overnight rest, and best are not recommended after about 3pm (based on the time you retire at night). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. From the most-cited studies about napping, researchers at Nasa discovered that space travelers experienced up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% increase in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this involved a six-minute long nodding-off period). “My advice is setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – the majority are asleep within 10 minutes,” says a specialist. “You'll find much guidance out there about the optimal amount for sleeping, yet that often lead individuals to become more anxious than anything – and the worst thing you can possibly do when trying to fall asleep is worry about it.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “The science would say it is preferable to have an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the expert. “45 minutes is long enough to plunge you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – however, if you extend it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to finish a natural sleep cycle and will probably wake up feeling more refreshed. Though if you nap for 90 minutes, it will affect your sleep later that night.”
Finding an Ideal Snooze Setting
As for precise methods, suggestions are diverse. Some experts suggest using the same protocol you’d use to promote a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as you can manage. Some advise that you should simply nap on a couch in the existing light is available – to prevent sleep inertia and to “protect” your bed as the space your brain links with nighttime rest. “Napping is something really tricky to will,” says an expert. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is tougher to recline and essentially instruct yourself to nod off. There must be a natural inclination available to initiate sleep in the first place. I can usually take a nap during the day and awaken on my own alarm-free, but what helps a lot of people is to wait for a moment that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if you have few options – for instance, if attempting to squeeze in 40 winks during a commute or at the office – there’s nothing wrong to use some accessories. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I advise that they don’t get used to napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will
