The Formula for a Perfect Kip: Timing, Where and Duration?
Listen to a few performance experts, making it easy to think that a nap is a secret weapon: more than a sticking plaster following a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut to a better memory, a brighter outlook and maybe improved athletic performance. Premier League athletes do it regularly – as do musicians, fighters and media moguls. But if you haven’t got a room for napping or a career that allows daytime sleep, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a quick nap to justify the hassle? Can you find a reliable way to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you will arise feeling improved, rather than worse?
Identifying Your Nap Motivation
“We can identify three main reasons for daytime sleep for many people,” explains an expert sleep science professor. “One is termed recovery napping, that is what happens when you’ve had poor sleep the night before. The second is preparatory napping, where you are preparing for a sleep deficit in the future, for instance during graveyard shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply is about wanting: there is an opportunity to doze in the afternoon, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The primary task to consider, then, is to think about your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when night sleeping is being disrupted due to causes you cannot change – for instance, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or recovering from illness or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you take a nap since your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or poor, that’s often a signal your need for sleep is not where it needs to be. In such situations, naps can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the priority must always be a robust and regular night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
Therefore that daytime sleep shouldn’t be long enough to disrupt your nighttime sleep, and ideally are not recommended in the late afternoon (contingent on the time you go to bed at night). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. From the most-cited studies about napping, experts discovered that space travelers experienced a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this involved a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals doze off quickly,” explains a specialist. “You'll find much guidance out there concerning the perfect length of time, yet that often make people feel more stressed than anything else – and the worst thing you can do when trying to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “Research indicates it’s better to take a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” notes the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is long enough to put you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel sluggish when you get up – whereas if you take it slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to finish of a sleep cycle and should get up feeling more alert. However, if you're dozing for a long period, it can influence how you sleep in the evening.”
Finding the Perfect Sleep Space
Regarding specific techniques, advice differs. Some experts recommend employing comparable habits one would use to promote a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that one could merely snooze on a couch in the existing light is present – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to maintain your bedroom as the place your brain links with *real* sleep. “Napping is quite challenging to will,” says a specialist. “Without any drowsiness, it is more challenging to get comfortable and essentially instruct yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some drive available to bring the sleep on initially. I can usually take a nap in full light and naturally wake up without a timer, but what helps many individuals is to wait for an instance that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should options are scarce – for instance, when aiming to grab some shut-eye on a train or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable to employ sleep aids. “Coaching elite athletes, I advise that they not rely on napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will
