Tune into enough productivity gurus, and you'll be tempting to convince yourself that napping is a secret weapon: more than a band-aid after a bad night’s sleep, but a route to enhanced cognition, improved mood and maybe quicker running times. Premier League athletes are all at it – as do professional piano players, mixed martial artists & media moguls. Yet, when you lack a dedicated nap-room or a career that encourages daytime sleep, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a quick nap to merit the kerfuffle? Can you find a reliable way to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you will get up feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Understanding Your Nap Motivation
“We can identify three main reasons for napping among most adults,” explains a professor of sleep and circadian science specialist. “Firstly, there's termed recovery napping, essentially what you do when you’ve had a lack of sleep overnight. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, which involves anticipating insufficient sleep ahead, such as during graveyard shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially is about wanting: you get a moment to sleep during the day, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The first thing to consider, then, is to think about your nap motivation. “Napping can be really helpful when overnight rest is disturbed because of factors beyond your control – for instance, for a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from illness or intense exercise,” states a sleep specialist. “Yet when you nap because your night sleep seems unreliable or broken, that is frequently a sign your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as it needs to be. In those cases, napping can become a contributing factor, instead of the fix. Use napping as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the focus should still be a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Ideal Nap Length
This means that napping shouldn’t be long enough to affect your overnight rest, and preferably shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (based on when you retire overnight). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, experts discovered that astronauts showed up to a 54% increase in alertness and a 34% increase in performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this counted a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “My advice is setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – the majority fall asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of recommendations regarding the optimal amount of time, however, that can make people feel more worried above all – and the worst thing one can do when trying to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that induces sleep grogginess, that foggy state upon waking. “Research indicates it is preferable to have a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” explains the expert. “45 minutes is enough time to plunge you into deep sleep and you’re more likely to feel sluggish when you wake up – whereas if you extend it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be on the end of a sleep cycle and will probably awaken feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you nap for an hour and a half, it can influence the quality of your sleep that night.”
Creating an Ideal Sleep Space
Regarding specific techniques, advice differs. A few professionals suggest employing the same protocol you use to promote quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a supportive surface and minimal light as possible. Some advise that one could just doze on the sofa in the existing light is present – to prevent that groggy feeling and to “protect” your bedroom as the space you associate with *real* sleep. “Sleep is notoriously difficult to force,” explains an expert. “Lacking the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to recline and practically instruct yourself to fall asleep. You need some sleep pressure present to start the process in the first place. Personally, I can often nap in full light and wake up naturally without an alarm, however, what assists most folks is to wait for an instance where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and calmly allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if your choices are limited – such as, if attempting to fit in some shut-eye on a train or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine with bringing sleep aids. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
