Listen to enough productivity podcasters, making it tempting to think that napping is a powerful tool: not just a band-aid following restless night, but a shortcut to enhanced cognition, better spirits and perhaps improved athletic performance. Premier League soccer players are all at it – as do musicians, mixed martial artists and business leaders. But if you lack a room for napping or a career that encourages frequent naps, is it *truly* enough benefits to a quick nap to merit the effort? Can you find a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you will get up feeling better, rather than worse?
Understanding Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three key drivers for daytime sleep in the adult population,” says a leading circadian rhythm specialist. “The first is what we call make-up sleep, which is the action you take when you’ve had a lack of sleep the night before. The second is pre-emptive sleep, where you are preparing for a sleep deficit in the future, such as when working graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which simply comes down to wanting: you get a chance to nap during the day, and it's pleasant to indulge.”
The first thing to undertake, therefore, is to think about your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep is disturbed due to causes you cannot change – such as, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering from illness or intense exercise,” says a sleep expert. “But if you nap because your sleep at night feels fragile or unreliable, that can be an indicator your sleep drive is not at the level required. In such situations, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, not the solution. Employ naps for brief periods for temporary issues – the priority should still be a robust and regular night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This implies that naps ought not to be long enough to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and ideally should not occur post-3 p.m. (depending on what time you retire at night). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. Among the most-cited studies about napping, experts discovered that space travelers had up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% boost in task performance after a 26-minute nap (in detail, this included a six-minute long sleep onset time). “My advice is setting an alarm for half an hour or less – the majority are asleep in under ten minutes,” explains a specialist. “There’s a lot of recommendations regarding the optimal amount of minutes, however, that can lead individuals to become more worried than anything – and the worst thing you can possibly do when trying to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “The science indicates it's more effective to take a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” says the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is enough time to plunge you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel groggy when you get up – however, if you take it a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be on the end a full cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it will affect the quality of your sleep that night.”
Creating the Right Snooze Setting
As for exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. Certain specialists recommend employing comparable habits you’d use to promote a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that one could merely snooze on the sofa with ambient lighting is available – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to maintain your bed as the environment your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to force,” notes an expert. “Without any drowsiness, it is more challenging to lie down and basically command yourself to nod off. There must be a natural inclination available to initiate sleep initially. For me, it's possible to snooze in full light and awaken on my own alarm-free, however, what assists many individuals is to anticipate a moment where they feel naturally slightly tired and calmly ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should you have few options – for example, when aiming to squeeze in some shut-eye during a commute or at the office – it's acceptable with bringing a few tools. “In my work with footballers, I advise that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
