Hear plenty of productivity gurus, making it simple to think that a nap is a secret weapon: rather than a band-aid after poor sleep, but a route towards a better memory, improved mood and possibly quicker running times. Premier League athletes are all at it – and so are concert pianists, UFC champions & high-profile executives. However, if you don't have a special sleep space or employment that permits frequent naps, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a quick nap to merit the effort? Does there exist a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you truly ensure you will arise feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Exploring Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three primary motivations for taking a nap in the adult population,” explains an expert sleep science professor. “Firstly, there's termed recovery napping, which is the action you take following insufficient sleep overnight. The second is preparatory napping, which involves anticipating insufficient sleep ahead, such as during on night shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically comes down to wanting: you have a moment to sleep during the day, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The initial step to do, therefore, is to examine why you want to nap. “Naps can be genuinely useful when overnight rest is being disrupted for reasons you cannot change – for instance, when you are a new parent, or if you are healing from illness or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you’re napping as your night sleep is unstable or poor, that can be an indicator your need for sleep is not where required. In such situations, napping can become part of the problem, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the priority must always be a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
This implies that daytime sleep must not be long enough to interfere with your overnight rest, and ideally shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (based on when you go to bed overnight). What duration is wise? Advice differs. From the most-cited studies about napping, researchers at Nasa discovered that space travelers had a boost of up to 54% in vigilance plus a 34% rise in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this counted an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “I’d suggest using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – the majority are asleep in under ten minutes,” explains a sleep coach. “You'll find much recommendations regarding the perfect length of minutes, but that tends to cause people to feel more stressed than anything else – and the least helpful action one can do when trying to get to sleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Studies suggests it's more effective to opt for an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the sleep scientist. “Three-quarters of an hour is long enough to put you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel sluggish upon awakening – whereas if you take it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be completing a natural sleep cycle and should wake up feeling more alert. However, if you nap for 90 minutes, it may impact how you sleep that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Sleep Space
As for specific techniques, recommendations vary. Certain specialists suggest employing similar routines one would use to promote restful sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as possible. Others suggest that you should merely snooze on the sofa in the existing light happens to be around – to avoid that groggy feeling and to maintain your bedroom as the place you associate with nighttime rest. “Sleep is quite challenging to will,” notes a specialist. “Without the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to get comfortable and essentially command yourself to nod off. You need a natural inclination available to initiate sleep to begin with. Personally, I can often snooze in full light and wake up naturally without a timer, but what helps a lot of people is to wait for a time when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when options are scarce – for instance, when aiming to fit in some shut-eye during a commute or at the office – it is perfectly fine to employ a few tools. “When I’m working with professional sportspeople, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
