Listen to a few self-improvement experts, making it simple to think that napping is a powerful tool: more than a band-aid following restless night, but a path to improved recall, improved mood and maybe a faster 5k run time. Elite soccer players do it regularly – as do concert pianists, fighters and business leaders. But if you lack a special sleep space or a career that encourages daytime sleep, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a short sleep to merit the hassle? Does there exist a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, not worse?
Understanding The Nap Motivation
“There are three key drivers for taking a nap in the adult population,” says a professor of sleep and circadian science researcher. “Firstly, there's known as make-up sleep, which is what happens following insufficient sleep the previous night. Another is preparatory napping, where you are anticipating insufficient sleep coming up, for example when working on night shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially boils down to wanting: you have an opportunity to sleep in the daytime, and it's pleasant to indulge.”
The first thing to do, then, is to think about your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when overnight rest is disturbed due to causes outside your control – for instance, if you’re a new parent, or you’re recovering after being ill or strenuous activity,” states a sleep specialist. “However, if you take a nap as your sleep at night is unstable or poor, that is frequently a signal your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as required. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the problem, not the solution. Use napping for brief periods to address immediate needs – the priority ought to remain a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Snooze Time
This implies that daytime sleep shouldn’t be too extended to disrupt your overnight rest, and preferably shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (depending on when you go to bed in the evening). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. Among the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa discovered that astronauts experienced a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness and a 34% boost in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (in detail, this counted a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – most people fall asleep in under ten minutes,” explains a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of advice around about the perfect length for sleeping, yet that often cause people to feel more anxious than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when attempting to fall asleep is worry about it.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “Studies indicates it's more effective to opt for a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the professor. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to send you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you get up – however, if you nap for slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be completing a full cycle and should get up feeling more alert. But if you're dozing for a long period, it can influence your sleep later that night.”
Establishing an Ideal Sleep Space
When it comes to precise methods, advice differs. A few professionals suggest employing similar routines you use to promote a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as you can manage. Others suggest that it's fine to simply nap on a couch in the existing light is present – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bed as the place you associate with *real* sleep. “Sleep is something really tricky to force,” explains a specialist. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it becomes harder to lie down and essentially instruct yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some drive available to bring the sleep on in the first place. I can usually snooze in full light and wake up naturally alarm-free, but what helps a lot of people is to look for a time when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and should you have few options – for instance, if you’re trying to grab 40 winks on a train or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong to employ a few tools. “Coaching footballers, I suggest that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
