Hear enough productivity experts, making it easy to think that dozing is a superpower: not just a sticking plaster following a bad night’s sleep, but a route to a better memory, a brighter outlook and possibly a faster 5k run time. Premier League athletes are all at it – and so are professional piano players, fighters & media moguls. But if you haven’t got a special sleep space or employment that permits frequent naps, 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? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you will arise feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Understanding Your Nap Motivation
“Experts note three primary motivations for taking a nap in the adult population,” says a professor of circadian rhythm researcher. “Firstly, there's what we call recovery napping, essentially what happens following poor sleep the night before. Another is pre-emptive sleep, where you are pre-empting insufficient sleep coming up, for example if you’re working graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which simply is about desire: you have a moment to nap in the afternoon, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The initial step to undertake, then, is to think about why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when nighttime sleep gets interrupted for reasons beyond your control – such as, for a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep specialist. “Yet when you’re napping since your nighttime sleep is unstable or unreliable, that’s often a sign your sleep drive is not where required. In those cases, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Use napping as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the main goal must always be a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This means that daytime sleep must not be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your sleep at night, and preferably should not occur after about 3pm (contingent on when you retire at night). How long is sensible? Advice differs. In one of the most-cited studies about napping, researchers at Nasa discovered that astronauts experienced up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% boost in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this involved a six-minute long nodding-off period). “I’d suggest setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – most people doze off quickly,” says a sleep expert. “You'll find much advice around about the ideal number for sleeping, but that tends to cause people to feel more worried than anything else – and the worst thing you can possibly do when attempting to nod off is to be anxious.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, bypass the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling when you awaken. “The science indicates it's more effective to opt for a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” says the professor. “45 minutes is enough time to put you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel sluggish when you wake up – whereas if you take it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to finish of a sleep cycle and should awaken feeling more alert. Though if you’re sleeping for a long period, it can influence the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Establishing the Right Nap Environment
As for specific techniques, advice differs. A few professionals recommend using the same protocol you’d use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and minimal light as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to just doze on the sofa in whatever light is present – to avoid sleep inertia and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the environment your brain links with *real* sleep. “Sleep is notoriously difficult to will,” notes a specialist. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it is tougher to lie down and essentially tell yourself to go to sleep. There must be a natural inclination there to initiate sleep in the first place. For me, it's possible to take a nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally without a timer, but what helps most folks is to anticipate a time when they are naturally slightly tired and just gently ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should your choices are limited – for instance, if attempting to grab 40 winks while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine with bringing a few tools. “In my work with footballers, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
