The Secret to an Ideal Kip: When, Location and Duration?

Hear plenty of performance gurus, making it tempting to think that a nap is a secret weapon: rather than a sticking plaster following a bad night’s sleep, but a route towards improved recall, a brighter outlook and perhaps improved athletic performance. Elite soccer players swear by it – as do musicians, fighters and high-profile executives. But if you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or a career that encourages regular snoozing, are there *really* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye to merit the hassle? Can you find a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?

Identifying The Drive to Snooze

“There are three primary motivations for daytime sleep for many people,” notes a leading circadian rhythm researcher. “Firstly, there's known as make-up sleep, which is what you do following poor sleep the night before. Another is preparatory napping, when you are pre-empting sleep loss ahead, for instance during on night shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically boils down to desire: you get an opportunity to sleep in the daytime, and it feels nice to nap.”

The initial step to do, then, is consider your reason for napping. “Naps can be truly beneficial when overnight rest gets interrupted because of factors beyond your control – such as, when you are caring for an infant, or if you are healing from illness or heavy physical exertion,” states a sleep specialist. “Yet when you’re napping since your nighttime sleep feels fragile or broken, that is frequently a signal your sleep drive is not at the level it needs to be. In such situations, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the priority should still be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”

The Optimal Nap Length

This implies that napping ought not to be long enough to disrupt your overnight rest, and ideally should not occur post-3 p.m. (contingent on when you sleep in the evening). What duration is wise? Advice differs. In one of a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa noted that space travelers showed up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% increase in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this included a six-minute sleep onset time). “I recommend setting a timer for half an hour or less – most people are asleep in under ten minutes,” says a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of guidance out there about the optimal amount for sleeping, yet that often make people feel more anxious than anything else – and the worst thing you can possibly 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 induces sleep inertia, that foggy state upon waking. “Studies suggests it is preferable to have a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours rather than a mid-length nap,” says the professor. “45 minutes is long enough to put you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel groggy upon awakening – while if you take it slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing a full cycle and will probably wake up feeling more alert. But if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it may impact your sleep in the evening.”

Creating the Right Sleep Space

When it comes to specific techniques, suggestions are diverse. Some experts propose using similar routines you’d use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as is feasible. Some advise that you should simply nap on the sofa in the existing light is available – to prevent that groggy feeling and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the environment your mind associates with proper sleep. “Napping is something really tricky to will,” explains an expert. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it is tougher to get comfortable and essentially tell yourself to go to sleep. There must be some drive there to bring the sleep on to begin with. Personally, I can often nap during the day and awaken on my own alarm-free, however, what assists many individuals is to wait for a moment when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply ease into sleep.”

Experimentation is key, and should your choices are limited – for instance, when aiming to squeeze in a quick nap while traveling or at the office – 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 napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will