Tune into enough productivity podcasters, and you'll be tempting to think that dozing is a powerful tool: more than a quick fix following poor sleep, but a path towards a better memory, improved mood and possibly improved athletic performance. Premier League athletes do it regularly – as do concert pianists, mixed martial artists and media moguls. Yet, when you don't have a dedicated nap-room or a career that permits daytime sleep, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye to merit the hassle? Can you find a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling better, rather than worse?
Identifying Your Nap Motivation
“We can identify three key drivers for napping in the adult population,” says an expert circadian rhythm researcher. “Firstly, there's termed make-up sleep, essentially what happens when you’ve had a lack of sleep overnight. Another is prophylactic napping, where you are pre-empting sleep loss in the future, such as if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically boils down to desire: you have a moment to doze in the daytime, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The initial step to undertake, so, is to examine your nap motivation. “Napping can be really helpful when nighttime sleep gets interrupted because of factors beyond your control – for example, when you are a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep physiologist. “However, if you’re napping as your night sleep is unstable or broken, that’s often an indicator your need for sleep is not where required. In those cases, napping can become part of the issue, rather than the answer. Use napping for brief periods for temporary issues – the focus ought to remain a robust and regular night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Nap Length
This implies that napping shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your nighttime sleep, and best are not recommended in the late afternoon (based on when you sleep in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. From the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, space agency scientists found that astronauts had up to a 54% increase in attentiveness and a 34% increase in task performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this included a six-minute long sleep onset time). “My advice is using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – the majority are asleep quickly,” explains a sleep expert. “There is plenty of advice around concerning the ideal number of minutes, but that tends to lead individuals to become more stressed above all – and the least helpful action you can possibly do when trying to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that promotes sleep inertia, that foggy state when you wake. “Studies suggests it's more effective to take a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” says the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel sluggish when you get up – whereas if you nap for slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing a full cycle and should get up feeling more refreshed. Though if you nap for 90 minutes, it will affect how you sleep that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Nap Environment
Regarding specific techniques, recommendations vary. Certain specialists propose adopting comparable habits one would use to promote restful sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and minimal light as possible. Some advise that one could simply nap on the sofa with ambient lighting happens to be around – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bedroom as the place you associate with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to command,” explains a sleep coach. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to lie down and practically tell yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination available to start the process initially. For me, it's possible to nap during the day and wake up naturally without a timer, but what helps a lot of people is to look for a time where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if your choices are limited – for instance, if you’re trying to squeeze in 40 winks during a commute or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine to use some accessories. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will
