Tune into a few performance experts, making it tempting to convince yourself that dozing is a superpower: not just a quick fix after poor sleep, but a route towards a better memory, improved mood and maybe a faster 5k run time. Professional athletes do it regularly – and so are concert pianists, fighters and media moguls. But if you don't have a room for napping or a job that permits regular snoozing, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the effort? Does there exist a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you will arise feeling better, not worse?
Understanding The Nap Motivation
“We can identify three key drivers for taking a nap for many people,” says a leading sleep and circadian science specialist. “Firstly, there's what we call compensatory napping, essentially what happens when you’ve had a lack of sleep overnight. Another is pre-emptive sleep, where you are pre-empting sleep loss in the future, for instance when working on night shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply boils down to the wish: you have an opportunity to nap in the daytime, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The first thing to consider, then, is to examine your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when overnight rest is being disrupted for reasons beyond your control – such as, when you are a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from sickness or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep physiologist. “However, if you nap as your sleep at night seems unreliable or poor, that’s often an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as it needs to be. In those cases, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, not the solution. Use napping as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the priority should still be a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Perfect Nap Duration
This means that naps shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to affect your sleep at night, and preferably are not recommended after about 3pm (based on what time you go to bed at night). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. Among the most-cited studies on the subject, experts found that crew members had up to a 54% increase in attentiveness and a 34% boost in performance after a 26-minute nap (technically, this involved an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “My advice is setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – many individuals doze off within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “You'll find much recommendations about the perfect length for sleeping, but that tends to lead individuals to become more anxious than anything – and the most counterproductive thing one can do while aiming to nod off is to be anxious.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages sleep inertia, that foggy state when you wake. “The science would say it’s better to take a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” says the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to put you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you wake up – while if you nap for a little longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you're dozing for a long period, it may impact the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Finding the Perfect Sleep Space
When it comes to precise methods, advice differs. A few professionals propose using comparable habits you’d use to promote restful sleep: a silent space, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as you can manage. Some advise that it's fine to merely snooze on the sofa in the existing light happens to be around – to avoid that groggy feeling and to preserve your bedroom as the environment your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Sleep is notoriously difficult to force,” notes a sleep coach. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it is more challenging to get comfortable and basically command yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination present to bring the sleep on in the first place. For me, it's possible to nap in full light and wake up naturally without a timer, though, what aids many individuals is to anticipate an instance where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when options are scarce – such as, when aiming to fit in a quick nap on a train or in a work pod – it's acceptable to use a few tools. “When I’m working with footballers, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
