Tune into a few productivity experts, making it tempting to convince yourself that dozing is a superpower: not just a band-aid following poor sleep, but a shortcut to a better memory, a brighter outlook and maybe improved athletic performance. Premier League athletes are all at it – along with musicians, mixed martial artists and business leaders. However, if you don't have a special sleep space or a job that encourages frequent naps, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye to justify the hassle? Can you find a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you truly ensure you will arise feeling better, instead of groggy?
Exploring Your Drive to Snooze
“There are three primary motivations for napping among most adults,” says a leading circadian rhythm professor. “The first is known as compensatory napping, essentially what you do following poor sleep the night before. Another is preparatory napping, which involves preparing for a sleep deficit in the future, for example when working on night shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which essentially is about desire: there is a moment to sleep in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to indulge.”
The first thing to consider, therefore, is to think about your nap motivation. “Napping can be really helpful when nighttime sleep is disturbed because of factors outside your control – for instance, when you are caring for an infant, or if you are healing from illness or strenuous activity,” says a sleep expert. “Yet when you take a nap as your night sleep feels fragile or unreliable, that’s often a sign your body's sleep pressure is not where it should be. In those cases, napping can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Employ naps for brief periods for short-term problems – the focus must always be a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
Therefore that napping must not be long enough to disrupt your overnight rest, and preferably shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (contingent on what time you go to bed at night). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. In one of the most-cited studies about napping, space agency scientists discovered that astronauts experienced up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% increase in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this counted a six-minute long nodding-off period). “I recommend using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – many individuals doze off quickly,” explains a sleep coach. “There is plenty of guidance out there about the optimal amount of minutes, yet that often make people feel more anxious than anything – and the least helpful action one can do while aiming to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that encourages sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “Research would say it’s better to take a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” says the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to put you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel disoriented when you wake up – however, if you extend it a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing a natural sleep cycle and should wake up feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you nap for 90 minutes, it will affect how you sleep later that night.”
Creating the Perfect Sleep Space
Regarding specific techniques, suggestions are diverse. Some experts suggest adopting comparable habits you use to promote a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that one could just doze on the sofa with ambient lighting happens to be around – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to “protect” your bedroom as the environment you associate with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to command,” explains a sleep coach. “Without the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to lie down and practically command yourself to go to sleep. You need some drive present to initiate sleep to begin with. I can usually take a nap in full light and naturally wake up without a timer, though, what aids most folks is to anticipate a moment where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply ease into sleep.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and should you have few options – for instance, if you’re trying to squeeze in a quick nap while traveling or in a work pod – it's acceptable to employ sleep aids. “Coaching footballers, I suggest that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
