Tune into plenty of self-improvement experts, making it easy to think that napping is a powerful tool: not just a sticking plaster following restless night, but a shortcut towards enhanced cognition, improved mood and possibly improved athletic performance. Professional footballers do it regularly – and so are concert pianists, mixed martial artists & high-profile executives. Yet, when you haven’t got a special sleep space or a job that allows regular snoozing, is it *truly* enough benefits to a short sleep to justify the kerfuffle? Can you find a reliable way to fall asleep fast? And can you really guarantee you will arise feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Identifying Your Reasons for Napping
“There are three primary motivations for napping for many people,” says an expert sleep science researcher. “Firstly, there's what we call make-up sleep, which is what you do following a lack of sleep the previous night. Another is preparatory napping, which involves pre-empting a sleep deficit in the future, such as if you’re working on night shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which simply boils down to desire: you get a moment to doze in the daytime, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The initial step to do, therefore, is consider your nap motivation. “Napping can be really helpful when night sleeping is being disrupted because of factors outside your control – for instance, when you are caring for an infant, or you’re recovering after being ill or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep expert. “Yet when you’re napping because your sleep at night is unstable or broken, that is frequently a signal your sleep drive is not where required. Under those circumstances, napping can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the priority must always be a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Perfect Nap Length
This implies that naps shouldn’t be long enough to interfere with your sleep at night, and best shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (depending on what time you retire in the evening). What duration is wise? Advice differs. In one of a prominent study on the subject, space agency scientists found that space travelers experienced improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% increase in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (in detail, this involved a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting a timer for half an hour or less – many individuals fall asleep in under ten minutes,” explains a sleep coach. “You'll find much recommendations concerning the perfect length of minutes, however, that can cause people to feel more worried than anything – and the worst thing you can do when trying to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to nap for a longer period, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “The science suggests it’s better to have an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” says the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to plunge you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you get up – while if you take it a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to finish a natural sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more alert. Though if you're dozing for a long period, it will affect your sleep later that night.”
Finding an Ideal Snooze Setting
As for specific techniques, suggestions are diverse. Some experts suggest using the same protocol you’d use to foster restful sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and minimal light as is feasible. Alternatively, experts propose that you should merely snooze on the sofa in the existing light is present – to avoid that groggy feeling and to preserve your bed as the environment your brain links with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to force,” says an expert. “Lacking any drowsiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and practically tell yourself to nod off. You need some sleep pressure present to bring the sleep on to begin with. I can usually nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up without an alarm, but what helps many individuals is to look for a time when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and calmly allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if options are scarce – for example, if you’re trying to fit in 40 winks while traveling or at the office – there’s nothing wrong to use some accessories. “When I’m working with footballers, I suggest that they not rely on their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
