Listen to plenty of self-improvement experts, and you'll be easy to believe that napping is a superpower: rather than a sticking plaster after poor sleep, but a route towards improved recall, a brighter outlook and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Premier League athletes do it regularly – and so are concert pianists, mixed martial artists and media moguls. However, if you lack a special sleep space or a job that allows regular snoozing, are there *really* sufficient advantages to a short sleep to merit the kerfuffle? Does there exist a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you really guarantee you will get up feeling refreshed, not worse?
Identifying The Reasons for Napping
“There are three primary motivations for napping for many people,” notes a professor of sleep and circadian science researcher. “One is what we call make-up sleep, which is what happens after experiencing a lack of sleep the previous night. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, which involves anticipating insufficient sleep ahead, such as during overnight shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which simply is about desire: you have a moment to nap during the day, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The first thing to do, so, is consider your nap motivation. “Naps can be genuinely useful when overnight rest is being disrupted because of factors beyond your control – for example, when you are a new parent, or you’re recovering after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep physiologist. “But if you nap as your nighttime sleep is unstable or poor, that is frequently a sign your need for sleep is not at the level it needs to be. In such situations, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the priority should still be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Nap Length
Therefore that daytime sleep must not be sufficiently lengthy to affect your overnight rest, and ideally are not recommended in the late afternoon (depending on the time you sleep in the evening). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa discovered that astronauts experienced up to a 54% increase in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this counted a six-minute long nodding-off period). “My advice is using an alarm for half an hour or less – the majority are asleep in under ten minutes,” says a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of guidance out there about the ideal number for sleeping, yet that often lead individuals to become more stressed than anything – and the worst thing one can do when attempting to nod off is to be anxious.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “The science would say it’s better to have a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” says the expert. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to send you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel sluggish upon awakening – while if you extend it a little longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to be on the end of a sleep cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it can influence how you sleep that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Snooze Setting
When it comes to specific techniques, suggestions are diverse. Some experts propose employing similar routines you use to encourage restful sleep: a quiet room, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as is feasible. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to simply nap in a chair in the existing light is available – to avoid that groggy feeling and to maintain your bed as the space you associate with nighttime rest. “Napping is quite challenging to will,” notes 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 some sleep pressure available to bring the sleep on in the first place. Personally, I can often snooze in full light and wake up naturally alarm-free, though, what aids a lot of people is to wait for a time where they feel naturally slightly tired and just gently ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and when you have few options – for instance, if you’re trying to squeeze in a quick nap on a train or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable to use some accessories. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
