Hear plenty of self-improvement gurus, and you'll be simple to believe that napping is a powerful tool: rather than a sticking plaster after poor sleep, but a route to enhanced cognition, better spirits and possibly improved athletic performance. Professional footballers swear by it – as do professional piano players, UFC champions & high-profile executives. But if you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or a job that allows frequent naps, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a quick nap to merit the effort? Does there exist a dependable method to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling improved, not worse?
Exploring Your Drive to Snooze
“There are three primary motivations for taking a nap among most adults,” says a leading sleep science professor. “The first is termed compensatory napping, that is the action you take after experiencing insufficient sleep overnight. Secondly, there's pre-emptive sleep, where you are anticipating insufficient sleep in the future, for example if you’re working on night shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which essentially comes down to desire: there is an opportunity to sleep in the afternoon, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The initial step to consider, therefore, is to think about your nap motivation. “Naps can be really helpful when nighttime sleep gets interrupted due to causes beyond your control – for example, if you’re caring for an infant, or if you are healing from illness or strenuous activity,” says a sleep expert. “Yet when you’re napping because your sleep at night seems unreliable or broken, that can be a signal your body's sleep pressure is not where it should be. In such situations, naps can become part of the problem, not the solution. Employ naps as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the main goal ought to remain a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Perfect Nap Duration
This means that napping shouldn’t be too extended to interfere with your sleep at night, and best should not occur in the late afternoon (based on what time you retire in the evening). What duration is wise? Advice differs. Among the most-cited studies about napping, space agency scientists discovered that space travelers had a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness and a 34% boost in performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this involved a six-minute long nodding-off period). “I recommend setting a timer for half an hour or less – many individuals doze off within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep coach. “You'll find much advice around regarding the ideal number of minutes, however, that can lead individuals to become more stressed than anything – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when trying to get to sleep is worry about it.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, avoid the 45-60 minute window that encourages that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “The science suggests it's more effective to have an extended nap of one to one and a half hours rather than a mid-length nap,” says the expert. “45 minutes is long enough to put you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel groggy upon awakening – whereas if you take it a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be completing a natural sleep cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more refreshed. But if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it will affect the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Creating an Ideal Snooze Setting
As for exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. Some experts suggest adopting similar routines you’d use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and minimal light as is feasible. Some advise that you should simply nap on the sofa in whatever light happens to be around – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the environment your brain links with *real* sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to force,” explains an expert. “Without any sleepiness, it is more challenging to get comfortable and practically instruct yourself to fall asleep. You need some drive present to initiate sleep initially. Personally, I can often take a nap in full light and wake up naturally without a timer, though, what aids a lot of people is to wait for a time where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when options are scarce – for instance, when aiming to fit in a quick nap during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine to use sleep aids. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I suggest that they not rely on napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
