Tune into enough performance experts, and you'll be tempting to believe that a nap is a powerful tool: more than a band-aid following restless night, but a shortcut to improved recall, improved mood and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Premier League soccer players do it regularly – and so are professional piano players, fighters & media moguls. Yet, when you lack a dedicated nap-room or a career that encourages frequent naps, are there *really* worthwhile perks 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 honestly promise you will arise feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Understanding Your Nap Motivation
“There are three key drivers for taking a nap in the adult population,” notes an expert sleep and circadian science specialist. “The first is termed compensatory napping, that is what you do following insufficient sleep overnight. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, which involves pre-empting insufficient sleep coming up, such as if you’re working on night shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which essentially boils down to desire: you get an opportunity to nap in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The primary task to consider, then, is to think about your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when night sleeping is disturbed due to causes beyond your control – for instance, if you’re caring for an infant, or if you are healing after being ill or intense exercise,” says a sleep expert. “Yet when you take a nap since your sleep at night feels fragile or broken, that’s often an indicator your need for sleep is not where it should be. Under those circumstances, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Use napping for brief periods to address immediate needs – the focus should still be a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This means that daytime sleep ought not to be long enough to disrupt your overnight rest, and preferably should not occur post-3 p.m. (depending on when you sleep overnight). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. Among the most-cited studies about napping, space agency scientists found that astronauts had up to a 54% increase in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this counted a six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – many individuals are asleep in under ten minutes,” says a specialist. “You'll find much guidance out there about the ideal number of time, yet that often cause people to feel more stressed than anything – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when trying to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
If you plan to sleep for longer, bypass the 45-60 minute window that encourages sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “Studies suggests it is preferable to have a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to put you into deep sleep and you’re more likely to feel disoriented when you wake up – while if you nap for a little longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to finish a full cycle and will probably awaken feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you're dozing for a long period, it can influence how you sleep that night.”
Creating the Perfect Sleep Space
As for exact methodologies, recommendations vary. A few professionals recommend employing comparable habits you’d use to foster a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and as much darkness as you can manage. Others suggest that one could just doze on a couch with ambient lighting is present – to avoid sleep inertia and to maintain your bedroom as the environment your mind associates with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to force,” says an expert. “Lacking any sleepiness, it is tougher to lie down and essentially command yourself to nod off. You need some drive available to start the process in the first place. I can usually take a nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally without a timer, but what helps a lot of people is to anticipate a moment that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently relax into it.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and should your choices are limited – such as, when aiming to squeeze in a quick nap while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong to employ some accessories. “In my work with footballers, I recommend that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
