Listen to enough productivity experts, and you'll be easy to convince yourself that a nap is a superpower: more than a quick fix after a bad night’s sleep, but a route towards improved recall, better spirits and maybe quicker running times. Elite soccer players are all at it – and so are concert pianists, mixed martial artists and media moguls. But if you haven’t got a special sleep space or employment that encourages regular snoozing, are there *really* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye to merit the hassle? Is there a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you will get up feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“We can identify three primary motivations for daytime sleep among most adults,” explains a leading sleep science professor. “One is known as compensatory napping, which is what happens following insufficient sleep the night before. Another is pre-emptive sleep, when you are pre-empting sleep loss in the future, for instance when working graveyard shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply boils down to wanting: you have a moment to doze during the day, and it's pleasant to indulge.”
The first thing to consider, therefore, is to examine your reason for napping. “Naps can be genuinely useful when overnight rest is disturbed for reasons outside your control – for instance, when you are a new parent, or you’re recovering after being ill or intense exercise,” explains a sleep physiologist. “However, if you’re napping since your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or poor, that’s often an indicator your sleep drive is not at the level it needs to be. Under those circumstances, napping can become a contributing factor, not the solution. Use napping as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the focus must always be a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Ideal Nap Length
Therefore that napping shouldn’t be long enough to disrupt your nighttime sleep, and best are not recommended in the late afternoon (depending on the time you go to bed overnight). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. In one of the most-cited studies about napping, researchers at Nasa noted that space travelers experienced improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% boost in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this included a six-minute nodding-off period). “I’d suggest using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – many individuals fall asleep in under ten minutes,” says a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of advice around regarding the ideal number of time, yet that often make people feel more worried than anything – and the least helpful action you can possibly do when attempting to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that promotes sleep inertia, that foggy state when you wake. “Studies suggests it is preferable to opt for a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” says the professor. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to send you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel sluggish upon awakening – while if you extend it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to be on the end a full cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more refreshed. However, if you nap for an hour and a half, it will affect your sleep later that night.”
Establishing the Right Sleep Space
Regarding precise methods, advice differs. A few professionals propose employing similar routines you use to encourage restful sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as you can manage. Some advise that it's fine to simply nap on the sofa in whatever light happens to be around – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the environment your brain links with proper sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to will,” explains a specialist. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it becomes harder to lie down and essentially instruct yourself to nod off. There must be a natural inclination present to bring the sleep on in the first place. For me, it's possible to nap during the day and awaken on my own without an alarm, however, what assists many individuals is to wait for a time that they’re naturally slightly tired and just gently ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when you have few options – such as, when aiming to squeeze in a quick nap on a train or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine with bringing some accessories. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
