Never practice when you’re tired.
If you’re struggling to concentrate while practicing because you are sleepy – take a nap. You’ll be more efficient and produce better results. In music school, I was reminded almost daily that “it isn’t ‘practice makes perfect” it’s really “practice makes permanent”. If you are tired and not playing your best when you practice, then you are creating bad habits.
I try to fit 5-7 hours of practice into my schedule each day. However, if I didn’t get enough sleep and am tired when I’m practicing, I take a step back, realize I’m not using my time wisely, and take that nap. Because I’d rather get 4.5 hours of great practice than 5 hours of mediocre practice.
Set an Alarm
Do set an alarm though. If you sleep too long and go into the next phase of sleep, you’ll be groggy when you wake up. This is called sleep inertia. This can last even longer than the nap sometimes if you wake at the wrong part of your sleep cycle.
To avoid this you can limit your naps to about 25-45 minutes. I set an egg timer as a lay down and get up when it goes off whether I fell asleep or not. Even if I don’t fall asleep, just resting for half an hour can still recharge me.
The Research
The book Take a Nap! Change Your Life is all about the science of napping. It even includes instructions on designing the best nap length and time for your schedule. I read it and felt justified in my napping habit. The author studied the effects of napping on the brain and on performance for her doctorate and the results are incredible.
So if you’re like me and try to dedicate large amounts of time to practicing, you may be well served by occasionally taking time out to nap. The time you take to nap will probably be made up for by the higher level of awareness and productivity after the nap.
