Listen to plenty of self-improvement podcasters, and you'll be simple to believe that dozing is a secret weapon: rather than a sticking plaster following poor sleep, but a route to improved recall, better spirits and possibly improved athletic performance. Elite athletes do it regularly – and so are concert pianists, UFC champions & high-profile executives. However, if you lack a room for napping or a career that encourages frequent naps, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye to justify the effort? Does there exist a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you will arise feeling refreshed, not worse?
Identifying Your Nap Motivation
“There are three key drivers for daytime sleep among most adults,” notes a leading circadian rhythm specialist. “The first is known as make-up sleep, that is the action you take when you’ve had poor sleep the night before. Another is pre-emptive sleep, when you are pre-empting sleep loss ahead, for example during overnight shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially boils down to desire: you get a moment to doze in the afternoon, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The primary task to consider, so, is to examine your nap motivation. “Napping can be genuinely useful when overnight rest is being disrupted for reasons beyond your control – for example, when you are a new parent, or you’re recovering after being ill or intense exercise,” states a sleep expert. “But if you take a nap because your night sleep feels fragile or broken, that is frequently a sign your sleep drive is not as strong as required. In those cases, naps can become part of the issue, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the priority must always be a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This means that daytime sleep shouldn’t be long enough to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and best are not recommended after about 3pm (contingent on what time you sleep at night). What duration is wise? Advice differs. From the most-cited studies about napping, researchers at Nasa discovered that crew members experienced improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% increase in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this counted a six-minute long sleep onset time). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – the majority fall asleep quickly,” explains a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of guidance out there regarding the ideal number for sleeping, however, that can make people feel more anxious than anything else – and the worst thing one can do when attempting to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that induces that sluggish feeling, that foggy state when you wake. “Studies would say it’s better to have an extended nap of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” says the expert. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to put you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you wake up – however, if you nap for a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end of a sleep cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more refreshed. But if you nap for a long period, it may impact the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Establishing an Ideal Sleep Space
As for specific techniques, recommendations vary. A few professionals recommend employing comparable habits you use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and as much darkness as possible. Others suggest that you should simply nap in a chair in the existing light happens to be around – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to preserve your bedroom as the space you associate with *real* sleep. “Napping is something really tricky to command,” explains a specialist. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it is tougher to lie down and basically tell yourself to nod off. You need some sleep pressure there to bring the sleep on initially. I can usually snooze in broad daylight and wake up naturally without an alarm, but what helps many individuals is to look for a moment when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if options are scarce – for example, if you’re trying to squeeze in some shut-eye on a train or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong with bringing sleep aids. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will
