Tune into plenty of productivity podcasters, and you'll be easy to convince yourself that a nap is a powerful tool: more than a quick fix after a bad night’s sleep, but a route to enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and possibly a faster 5k run time. Elite athletes swear by it – as do professional piano players, fighters and media moguls. But if you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or a job that encourages regular snoozing, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a short sleep to merit the effort? Is there a dependable method to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, not worse?
Understanding The Reasons for Napping
“There are three key drivers for napping for many people,” notes a leading sleep and circadian science researcher. “Firstly, there's termed compensatory napping, which is the action you take following poor sleep the night before. The second is pre-emptive sleep, which involves pre-empting sleep loss ahead, for example if you’re working overnight shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which essentially boils down to desire: you have an opportunity to doze in the afternoon, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The first thing to consider, then, is to think about your reason for napping. “Napping can be truly beneficial when overnight rest is disturbed because of factors beyond your control – for example, when you are a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering after being ill or intense exercise,” says a sleep specialist. “However, if you nap since your night sleep is unstable or unreliable, that can be an indicator your need for sleep is not as strong as it should be. In those cases, napping can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the main goal should still be a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Perfect Nap Length
This implies that daytime sleep must not be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and best should not occur in the late afternoon (depending on the time you retire overnight). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. From a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, experts discovered that astronauts showed up to a 54% increase in alertness and a 34% boost in task performance after a 26-minute nap (in detail, this included a six-minute nodding-off period). “My advice is setting a timer for half an hour or less – many individuals are asleep within 10 minutes,” explains a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of recommendations regarding the perfect length of time, but that tends to lead individuals to become more stressed above all – and the worst thing one can do while aiming to fall asleep is to be anxious.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “Studies suggests it's more effective to have a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” notes the professor. “45 minutes is long enough to put you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you get up – while if you extend it slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and should get up feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you nap for an hour and a half, it may impact your sleep in the evening.”
Establishing the Perfect Sleep Space
Regarding precise methods, advice differs. A few professionals propose adopting the same protocol you use to encourage restful sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that it's fine to merely snooze in a chair in whatever light is available – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bedroom as the environment you associate with *real* sleep. “Napping is quite challenging to will,” explains a sleep coach. “Without any drowsiness, it is more challenging to recline and practically instruct yourself to fall asleep. There must be some drive there to start the process in the first place. I can usually snooze in broad daylight and naturally wake up without an alarm, but what helps most folks is to look for a moment when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and should your choices are limited – for example, if attempting to fit in 40 winks while traveling or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine to use some accessories. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
