Listen to plenty of self-improvement experts, making it simple to convince yourself that napping is a powerful tool: not just a sticking plaster following restless night, but a route towards enhanced cognition, improved mood and possibly quicker running times. Professional soccer players do it regularly – as do professional piano players, UFC champions & high-profile executives. Yet, when you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or a career that allows regular snoozing, is it *truly* enough benefits to a quick nap for it to be worth the hassle? Is there a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you will arise feeling better, not worse?
Identifying Your Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three primary motivations for taking a nap for many people,” says a leading sleep and circadian science specialist. “The first is termed recovery napping, that is what you do following poor sleep the previous night. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, where you are preparing for a sleep deficit in the future, for instance if you’re working on night shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which essentially is about wanting: you have a moment to sleep during the day, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The primary task to undertake, then, is to think about your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when night sleeping is disturbed because of factors beyond your control – for instance, when you are a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering from illness or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep physiologist. “However, if you take a nap since your nighttime sleep is unstable or poor, that can be an indicator your need for sleep is not as strong as it needs to be. In such situations, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the priority should still be a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Perfect Nap Length
This means that naps shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your sleep at night, and best are not recommended after about 3pm (based on when you retire at night). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. From the most-cited studies on the subject, researchers at Nasa noted that space travelers experienced up to a 54% increase in alertness and a 34% boost in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (in detail, this involved an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals are asleep within 10 minutes,” says a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of recommendations about the optimal amount of minutes, yet that often lead individuals to become more stressed than anything – and the most counterproductive thing you can possibly do when trying to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, steer clear of the period between 45 and 60 minutes that promotes sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling when you awaken. “The science suggests it’s better to opt for a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to plunge you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel groggy upon awakening – while if you take it slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and should get up feeling more alert. But if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it will affect the quality of your sleep that night.”
Creating the Perfect Snooze Setting
Regarding precise methods, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals propose employing the same protocol you’d use to promote quality nighttime sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that one could just doze on a couch in whatever light is available – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the environment you associate with nighttime rest. “Napping is notoriously difficult to force,” notes a specialist. “Without any drowsiness, it is more challenging to get comfortable and essentially instruct yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some drive present to bring the sleep on initially. I can usually nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up alarm-free, however, what assists most folks is to anticipate a moment where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when you have few options – for instance, when aiming to fit in some shut-eye while traveling or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong to employ sleep aids. “Coaching elite athletes, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
