Tune into enough self-improvement podcasters, making it easy to think that napping is a superpower: not just a quick fix following poor sleep, but a path towards enhanced cognition, improved mood and possibly a faster 5k run time. Premier League athletes do it regularly – as do concert pianists, mixed martial artists & business leaders. But if you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or employment that permits regular snoozing, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a short sleep to justify the effort? Does there exist a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you will get up feeling better, not worse?
Identifying Your Nap Motivation
“Experts note three main reasons for taking a nap among most adults,” notes an expert sleep science professor. “The first is termed make-up sleep, which is the action you take when you’ve had insufficient sleep the night before. Secondly, there's pre-emptive sleep, which involves anticipating a sleep deficit coming up, such as when working on night shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically boils down to the wish: you get a chance to doze in the daytime, and it feels nice to nap.”
The initial step to do, then, is consider why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when overnight rest gets interrupted due to causes you cannot change – for instance, if you’re caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from illness or intense exercise,” explains a sleep specialist. “However, if you take a nap because your night sleep is unstable or unreliable, that’s often a sign your need for sleep is not where it needs to be. In those cases, naps can become part of the issue, not the solution. Use napping for brief periods to address immediate needs – the focus must always be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Snooze Time
Therefore that naps shouldn’t be too extended to affect your nighttime sleep, and ideally should not occur in the late afternoon (depending on the time you retire overnight). What duration is wise? Advice differs. Among a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa discovered that astronauts had a boost of up to 54% in alertness and a 34% increase in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this counted a six-minute long nodding-off period). “I’d suggest using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals fall asleep in under ten minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of guidance out there concerning the perfect length for sleeping, but that tends to cause people to feel more stressed than anything else – and the least helpful action you can do when trying to nod off is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, steer clear of the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling when you awaken. “Studies suggests it's more effective to opt for a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the professor. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to put you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel sluggish upon awakening – whereas if you nap for a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end of a sleep cycle and should awaken feeling more rejuvenated. But if you nap for an hour and a half, it may impact the quality of your sleep that night.”
Creating the Perfect Snooze Setting
As for precise methods, recommendations vary. Some experts recommend using the same protocol you use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and as much darkness as you can manage. Some advise that one could just doze on a couch with ambient lighting is present – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to preserve your bedroom as the space you associate with nighttime rest. “Napping is something really tricky to command,” notes a sleep coach. “Without the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to lie down and essentially instruct yourself to nod off. There must be a natural inclination there to initiate sleep initially. Personally, I can often snooze during the day and naturally wake up without an alarm, however, what assists most folks is to anticipate a time that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when you have few options – for example, if you’re trying to squeeze in a quick nap while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine to use a few tools. “When I’m working with professional sportspeople, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will
