Listen to enough performance experts, making it tempting to believe that napping is a powerful tool: more than a sticking plaster after a bad night’s sleep, but a path towards improved recall, a brighter outlook and maybe improved athletic performance. Elite footballers do it regularly – along with concert pianists, fighters and business leaders. But if you lack a special sleep space or a career that encourages regular snoozing, is it *truly* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye to merit the hassle? Does there exist a surefire technique to nod off promptly? And can you really guarantee you will get up feeling better, not worse?
Identifying Your Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three primary motivations for napping in the adult population,” explains a professor of circadian rhythm researcher. “One is what we call recovery napping, essentially what happens after experiencing a lack of sleep overnight. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, which involves pre-empting insufficient sleep ahead, for instance during on night shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which basically comes down to wanting: you have a chance to sleep in the daytime, and it feels nice to nap.”
The primary task to consider, therefore, is consider your reason for napping. “Naps can be really helpful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted because of factors beyond your control – such as, for a new parent, or if you are healing after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” states a sleep physiologist. “But if you nap as your sleep at night seems unreliable or unreliable, that can be a sign your sleep drive is not where it needs to be. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, not the solution. Employ naps for brief periods to address immediate needs – the main goal must always be a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This implies that daytime sleep shouldn’t be long enough to affect your sleep at night, and ideally are not recommended after about 3pm (depending on the time you go to bed overnight). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most-cited studies about napping, space agency scientists found that space travelers experienced improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% increase in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this counted an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend setting an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals doze off quickly,” notes a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of guidance out there regarding the ideal number for sleeping, however, that can lead individuals to become more anxious than anything else – and the worst thing one can do while aiming to nod off is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces sleep inertia, that foggy state when you wake. “Studies indicates it is preferable to have an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the expert. “45 minutes is long enough to put you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel sluggish upon awakening – while if you extend it slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be completing a natural sleep cycle and should wake up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you're dozing for a long period, it can influence your sleep that night.”
Finding the Perfect Nap Environment
Regarding specific techniques, advice differs. A few professionals propose using similar routines one would use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that you should merely snooze in a chair in the existing light happens to be around – to avoid sleep inertia and to “protect” your bed as the space your brain links with *real* sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to force,” explains an expert. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to lie down and practically instruct yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some drive there to start the process initially. Personally, I can often take a nap during the day and awaken on my own without a timer, though, what aids most folks is to wait for a time that they’re naturally slightly tired and just gently relax into it.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when you have few options – for example, if attempting to squeeze in 40 winks on a train or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine with bringing sleep aids. “In my work with footballers, I suggest that they not rely on napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
