The Key to an Ideal Kip: When, Where and for How Long?
Hear a few self-improvement gurus, and it’s tempting to convince yourself that a nap is a secret weapon: more than a quick fix following restless night, but a shortcut towards enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and possibly improved athletic performance. Professional footballers are all at it – as do concert pianists, mixed martial artists and media moguls. But if you don't have a room for napping or a job that permits frequent naps, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a quick nap to merit the hassle? Is there a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling better, instead of groggy?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“We can identify three main reasons for napping for many people,” notes a professor of sleep science professor. “The first is what we call make-up sleep, essentially the action you take after experiencing insufficient sleep the night before. Another is preparatory napping, where you are anticipating a sleep deficit ahead, for example if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which simply comes down to wanting: you have a chance to sleep in the daytime, and it's pleasant to indulge.”
The primary task to do, so, is to examine why you want to nap. “Naps can be really helpful when night sleeping gets interrupted for reasons beyond your control – for example, for a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” states a sleep specialist. “Yet when you’re napping because your sleep at night is unstable or unreliable, that is frequently an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as it needs to be. In such situations, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the priority ought to remain a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This implies that napping must not be too extended to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and best should not occur in the late afternoon (contingent on when you sleep overnight). What duration is wise? Advice differs. Among the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, space agency scientists noted that crew members experienced improvements of over 50% in alertness plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this involved a six-minute long nodding-off period). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for half an hour or less – most people doze off quickly,” says a sleep coach. “You'll find much advice around concerning the perfect length of minutes, yet that often make people feel more worried than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when trying to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “Studies would say it is preferable to take a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the expert. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to put you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel sluggish when you wake up – while if you extend it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing of a sleep cycle and will probably get up feeling more alert. However, if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it can influence how you sleep that night.”
Creating the Right Sleep Space
As for precise methods, advice differs. Some experts recommend adopting similar routines one would use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and as much darkness as is feasible. Alternatively, experts propose that one could simply nap in a chair with ambient lighting is present – to avoid that groggy feeling and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the environment you associate with nighttime rest. “Napping is something really tricky to command,” notes an expert. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is tougher to get comfortable and basically instruct yourself to fall asleep. You need a natural inclination present to bring the sleep on to begin with. I can usually snooze in full light and naturally wake up without an alarm, however, what assists most folks is to look for a moment where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if your choices are limited – for instance, if you’re trying to squeeze in some shut-eye while traveling or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine to use a few tools. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I advise that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
