The Formula for an Ideal Kip: Timing, Where & Duration?
Tune into enough productivity experts, and it’s tempting to think that a nap is a powerful tool: not just a band-aid following restless night, but a path towards improved recall, improved mood and maybe a faster 5k run time. Professional athletes are all at it – as do musicians, fighters & media moguls. Yet, when you don't have a dedicated nap-room or a job that permits frequent naps, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a short sleep for it to be worth the effort? Does there exist a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? And can you honestly promise you will arise feeling better, instead of groggy?
Identifying The Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three main reasons for napping for many people,” says an expert circadian rhythm researcher. “One is known as make-up sleep, which is what you do when you’ve had poor sleep the night before. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, where you are preparing for a sleep deficit ahead, such as when working overnight shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which simply comes down to wanting: you have a moment to sleep in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The first thing to consider, then, is to think about your nap motivation. “Napping can be really helpful when overnight rest gets interrupted due to causes you cannot change – such as, when you are caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from illness or strenuous activity,” says a sleep physiologist. “But if you nap as your night sleep feels fragile or unreliable, that can be an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not where required. In such situations, naps can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods for short-term problems – the main goal must always be a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Optimal Snooze Time
Therefore that naps shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your sleep at night, and ideally should not occur post-3 p.m. (based on what time you retire at night). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. From the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, experts found that space travelers had a boost of up to 54% in vigilance plus a 34% rise in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this involved a six-minute falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest using an alarm for half an hour or less – most people fall asleep quickly,” explains a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of recommendations about the optimal amount of time, however, that can cause people to feel more stressed than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when trying to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, bypass the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling when you awaken. “The science indicates it is preferable to take a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the expert. “45 minutes is long enough to plunge you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel disoriented when you get up – whereas if you nap for a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing a natural sleep cycle and should wake up feeling more refreshed. But if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it can influence the quality of your sleep that night.”
Establishing an Ideal Sleep Space
Regarding precise methods, advice differs. Certain specialists propose adopting the same protocol you use to promote quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a supportive surface and as much darkness as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that one could just doze in a chair in whatever light is available – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the place you associate with *real* sleep. “Sleep is notoriously difficult to force,” notes a specialist. “Lacking any sleepiness, it is tougher to get comfortable and practically instruct yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be some drive present to start the process to begin with. Personally, I can often take a nap in full light and awaken on my own without a timer, though, what aids a lot of people is to wait for a time that they’re naturally slightly tired and calmly ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should you have few options – for example, if attempting to fit in some shut-eye during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong with bringing some accessories. “When I’m working with footballers, I advise that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
