Listen to a few productivity podcasters, and you'll be simple to think that dozing is a powerful tool: more than a sticking plaster following poor sleep, but a shortcut towards enhanced cognition, improved mood and maybe a faster 5k run time. Premier League athletes do it regularly – as do professional piano players, fighters and media moguls. Yet, when you lack a special sleep space or a career that permits regular snoozing, are there *really* enough benefits to a quick nap for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Is there a reliable way to fall asleep fast? And can you really guarantee you will get up feeling better, rather than worse?
Identifying The Reasons for Napping
“There are three main reasons for daytime sleep in the adult population,” explains a professor of sleep and circadian science specialist. “Firstly, there's known as recovery napping, essentially the action you take following insufficient sleep the previous night. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, where you are anticipating insufficient sleep coming up, such as during graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which essentially is about wanting: you have a chance to doze in the daytime, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The initial step to do, therefore, is to examine your nap motivation. “Napping can be really helpful when nighttime sleep gets interrupted due to causes outside your control – for instance, when you are a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep specialist. “Yet when you take a nap because your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or poor, that is frequently an indicator your sleep drive is not as strong as it should be. In those cases, naps can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Use napping as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the focus ought to remain a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This implies that napping must not be long enough to disrupt your overnight rest, and preferably are not recommended after about 3pm (based on the time you retire in the evening). What duration is wise? Recommendations vary. Among the most-cited studies on the subject, researchers at Nasa found that astronauts showed improvements of over 50% in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (technically, this involved a six-minute long sleep onset time). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority fall asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep coach. “You'll find much guidance out there about the ideal number of minutes, yet that often lead individuals to become more stressed above all – and the worst thing you can do when trying to get to sleep is worry about it.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages that sluggish feeling, that foggy state when you wake. “The science suggests it is preferable to take an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is long enough to put you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you wake up – whereas if you take it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to be on the end of a sleep cycle and should awaken feeling more alert. But if you're dozing for an hour and a half, it can influence how you sleep that night.”
Finding the Perfect Snooze Setting
When it comes to exact methodologies, advice differs. Certain specialists recommend employing comparable habits one would use to foster a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and as much darkness as possible. Others suggest that it's fine to merely snooze on the sofa in the existing light happens to be around – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the place your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to command,” explains an expert. “Lacking any sleepiness, it is tougher to recline and essentially command yourself to go to sleep. You need a natural inclination there to initiate sleep to begin with. I can usually nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally alarm-free, but what helps many individuals is to look for a moment that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should your choices are limited – for example, if you’re trying to grab a quick nap during a commute or at the office – there’s nothing wrong with bringing a few tools. “When I’m working with professional sportspeople, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
