Tune into a few performance gurus, and it’s easy to believe that dozing is a secret weapon: more than a band-aid after restless night, but a path towards improved recall, improved mood and possibly a faster 5k run time. Professional footballers are all at it – as do professional piano players, fighters & high-profile executives. Yet, when you haven’t got a room for napping or a career that encourages daytime sleep, is it *truly* enough benefits to a short sleep to justify the kerfuffle? Does there exist a reliable way to nod off promptly? And can you honestly promise you will get up feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Identifying Your Nap Motivation
“There are three primary motivations for taking a nap among most adults,” explains a leading circadian rhythm researcher. “Firstly, there's what we call compensatory napping, that is the action you take when you’ve had a lack of sleep overnight. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, where you are pre-empting insufficient sleep ahead, for instance during on night shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which essentially is about wanting: there is a moment to nap in the afternoon, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The first thing to undertake, then, is consider your nap motivation. “Naps can be truly beneficial when night sleeping is disturbed due to causes you cannot change – for instance, when you are caring for an infant, or if you are healing from illness or strenuous activity,” states a sleep expert. “Yet when you nap as your sleep at night seems unreliable or poor, that is frequently an indicator your sleep drive is not at the level required. Under those circumstances, napping can become part of the problem, instead of the fix. Employ naps for brief periods to address immediate needs – the priority ought to remain a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This implies that napping must not be long enough to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and preferably are not recommended after about 3pm (based on what time you sleep overnight). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. Among a prominent study about napping, space agency scientists noted that space travelers had a boost of up to 54% in vigilance and a 34% boost in performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this involved a six-minute sleep onset time). “My advice is using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – the majority are asleep quickly,” says a specialist. “There is plenty of advice around concerning the perfect length of time, but that tends to cause people to feel more stressed than anything – and the worst thing you can do while aiming to get to sleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “The science would say it is preferable to opt for a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours compared to a medium-length nap,” says the expert. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to put you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel disoriented when you wake up – whereas if you extend it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be completing a full cycle and are likely to get up feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you nap for 90 minutes, it can influence your sleep in the evening.”
Creating the Perfect Sleep Space
As for specific techniques, advice differs. Some experts recommend employing similar routines you use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to just doze on the sofa in the existing light happens to be around – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bedroom as the space your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to force,” explains a specialist. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it is tougher to lie down and basically instruct yourself to fall asleep. There must be a natural inclination present to bring the sleep on initially. I can usually nap in full light and wake up naturally without an alarm, however, what assists many individuals is to wait for an instance where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if you have few options – such as, when aiming to grab 40 winks while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine to employ some accessories. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I suggest that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
