Listen to plenty of productivity gurus, and it’s easy to think that dozing is a superpower: more than a quick fix following a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut to a better memory, a brighter outlook and possibly improved athletic performance. Professional footballers do it regularly – as do professional piano players, UFC champions & business leaders. Yet, when you haven’t got a special sleep space or a job that encourages frequent naps, are there *really* sufficient advantages to a short sleep to merit the kerfuffle? Can you find a surefire technique to nod off promptly? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling better, instead of groggy?
Understanding Your Drive to Snooze
“There are three main reasons for taking a nap among most adults,” explains a professor of circadian rhythm researcher. “The first is termed make-up sleep, that is what you do after experiencing poor sleep the night before. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, when you are pre-empting sleep loss in the future, such as when working on night shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially comes down to the wish: there is a moment to doze in the daytime, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The primary task to undertake, therefore, is to think about your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep gets interrupted for reasons you cannot change – for example, when you are caring for an infant, or if you are healing from illness or strenuous activity,” states a sleep specialist. “But if you’re napping because your sleep at night feels fragile or poor, that’s often an indicator your need for sleep is not where required. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, rather than the answer. Use napping as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the main goal should still be a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Ideal Nap Length
This means that daytime sleep shouldn’t be long enough to disrupt your overnight rest, and preferably shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (based on what time you retire at night). How long is sensible? Advice differs. In one of the most-cited studies about napping, space agency scientists noted that space travelers experienced up to a 54% increase in vigilance plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this involved an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “I recommend setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – many individuals doze off within 10 minutes,” says a specialist. “You'll find much advice around concerning the perfect length for sleeping, yet that often lead individuals to become more stressed than anything else – and the worst thing you can possibly do while aiming to fall asleep is worry about it.”
If you’re going to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that encourages sleep inertia, that foggy state upon waking. “Research indicates it's more effective to take a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” notes the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to put you into deep sleep and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you wake up – whereas if you nap for a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to finish of a sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you nap for a long period, it may impact how you sleep later that night.”
Finding an Ideal Nap Environment
As for precise methods, recommendations vary. Certain specialists propose using the same protocol you use to foster a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as possible. Some advise that it's fine to merely snooze on a couch in whatever light is available – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the space your brain links with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to will,” notes an expert. “Lacking any drowsiness, it becomes harder to recline and practically command yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some sleep pressure present to initiate sleep initially. Personally, I can often nap in full light and naturally wake up alarm-free, but what helps many individuals is to wait for an instance when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when options are scarce – for example, when aiming to squeeze in some shut-eye on a train or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong to use a few tools. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I recommend that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
