Listen to enough productivity gurus, and it’s easy to believe that a nap is a superpower: rather than a sticking plaster following a bad night’s sleep, but a route towards a better memory, improved mood and perhaps improved athletic performance. Professional soccer players swear by it – as do professional piano players, fighters & media moguls. But if you haven’t got a room for napping or employment that permits frequent naps, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a quick nap to justify the hassle? Can you find a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you will get up feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Understanding Your Nap Motivation
“There are three primary motivations for taking a nap for many people,” says a leading sleep and circadian science specialist. “The first is what we call compensatory napping, which is what you do when you’ve had poor sleep overnight. The second is prophylactic napping, where you are pre-empting insufficient sleep in the future, for example when working on night shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which essentially boils down to desire: you get a moment to nap during the day, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The first thing to undertake, so, is consider your reason for napping. “Napping can be truly beneficial when night sleeping is disturbed for reasons beyond your control – such as, if you’re caring for an infant, or you’re recovering after being ill or intense exercise,” says a sleep expert. “However, if you take a nap as your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or poor, that can be an indicator your sleep drive is not as strong as required. In such situations, napping can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Use napping as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the focus must always be a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Perfect Nap Duration
This implies that daytime sleep must not be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your sleep at night, and preferably are not recommended after about 3pm (depending on the time you sleep at night). How long is sensible? Advice differs. In one of a prominent study about napping, researchers at Nasa discovered that space travelers had up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% boost in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this involved a six-minute long nodding-off period). “I recommend setting an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals doze off quickly,” notes a sleep expert. “You'll find much advice around about the perfect length of minutes, but that tends to make people feel more anxious above all – and the least helpful action one can do when trying to nod off is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “The science suggests it’s better to take an extended nap of one to one and a half hours rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to send you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel groggy upon awakening – while if you nap for a little 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. Though if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it will affect how you sleep in the evening.”
Creating the Right Sleep Space
As for specific techniques, recommendations vary. Certain specialists recommend using the same protocol one would use to promote quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to simply nap in a chair in the existing light is present – both to discourage sleep inertia and to preserve your bed as the environment your brain links with proper sleep. “Napping is something really tricky to force,” explains an expert. “Lacking the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to recline and essentially tell yourself to go to sleep. There must be a natural inclination present to initiate sleep in the first place. I can usually nap during the day and awaken on my own alarm-free, however, what assists many individuals is to wait for an instance that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if you have few options – for instance, if you’re trying to squeeze in 40 winks while traveling or in a work pod – it's acceptable to use some accessories. “When I’m working with footballers, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
