Listen to a few self-improvement gurus, making it tempting to convince yourself that napping is a superpower: not just a band-aid following a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut towards a better memory, better spirits and maybe a faster 5k run time. Professional footballers do it regularly – as do professional piano players, fighters and business leaders. However, if you don't have a dedicated nap-room or employment that encourages frequent naps, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a short sleep for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Does there exist a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling improved, not worse?
Understanding Your Nap Motivation
“There are three main reasons for taking a nap in the adult population,” notes a leading sleep and circadian science professor. “One is known as recovery napping, that is the action you take following poor sleep the night before. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, which involves preparing for insufficient sleep in the future, for instance if you’re working on night shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which simply comes down to wanting: there is a moment to doze in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The primary task to consider, then, is to examine your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when night sleeping is disturbed due to causes outside your control – for example, for caring for an infant, or if you are healing from illness or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep expert. “Yet when you nap as your sleep at night is unstable or unreliable, that is frequently a sign your body's sleep pressure is not where required. In such situations, napping can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Employ naps for brief periods for temporary issues – the priority should still be a robust and regular night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Nap Length
This implies that daytime sleep must not be too extended to interfere with your sleep at night, and ideally shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (depending on when you retire overnight). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. In one of the most-cited studies on the subject, experts noted that astronauts showed a boost of up to 54% in vigilance and a 34% increase in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this counted a six-minute sleep onset time). “I’d suggest using an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals doze off in under ten minutes,” explains a specialist. “There’s a lot of advice around about the optimal amount for sleeping, however, that can make people feel more worried than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when trying to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes that sluggish feeling, that foggy state when you awaken. “Studies suggests it is preferable to have a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the professor. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to put you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel groggy when you wake up – whereas if you extend it slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to finish a natural sleep cycle and will probably awaken feeling more alert. But if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it may impact how you sleep that night.”
Creating an Ideal Sleep Space
Regarding precise methods, advice differs. Some experts propose using the same protocol you use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as you can manage. Others suggest that you should just doze on the sofa in whatever light is present – both to discourage sleep inertia and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the environment your mind associates with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to force,” says a sleep coach. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to recline and practically command yourself to fall asleep. There must be a natural inclination present to bring the sleep on to begin with. I can usually take a nap in full light and awaken on my own alarm-free, however, what assists a lot of people is to wait for a time where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly relax into it.”
Experimentation is key, and when your choices are limited – for example, if attempting to fit in a quick nap on a train or at the office – it is perfectly fine with bringing a few tools. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I recommend that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
