Hear enough productivity gurus, and it’s tempting to convince yourself that dozing is a powerful tool: more than a sticking plaster following a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut to enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and perhaps improved athletic performance. Elite athletes are all at it – as do musicians, mixed martial artists & high-profile executives. But if you lack a special sleep space or a career that permits frequent naps, are there *really* enough benefits to a short sleep for it to be worth the hassle? Can you find a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you will arise feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Identifying The Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three main reasons for taking a nap in the adult population,” explains an expert circadian rhythm professor. “One is termed compensatory napping, which is what happens after experiencing insufficient sleep the previous night. The second is prophylactic napping, which involves pre-empting sleep loss ahead, for instance when working graveyard shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which simply comes down to desire: there is a chance to nap in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The first thing to undertake, then, is consider your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when night sleeping gets interrupted for reasons beyond your control – for instance, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or recovering from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep expert. “But if you take a nap because your night sleep seems unreliable or broken, that is frequently a signal your sleep drive is not at the level it needs to be. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, rather than the answer. Employ naps for brief periods for temporary issues – the focus should still be a robust and regular night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Nap Length
This implies that naps ought not to be long enough to affect your overnight rest, and ideally should not occur after about 3pm (contingent on the time you go to bed in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. In one of a prominent study about napping, researchers at Nasa found that astronauts had improvements of over 50% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (technically, this involved an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals are asleep in under ten minutes,” says a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of advice around regarding the perfect length for sleeping, however, that can make people feel more stressed than anything else – and the worst thing one can do when attempting to nod off is to stress over it.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that promotes that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “Research suggests it's more effective to have a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to plunge you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel sluggish upon awakening – while if you take it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and will probably wake up feeling more alert. However, if you're dozing for a long period, it will affect the quality of your sleep that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Sleep Space
Regarding specific techniques, recommendations vary. A few professionals propose using the same protocol you’d use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Some advise that it's fine to just doze on a couch in whatever light is available – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the place your mind associates with proper sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to will,” notes a sleep coach. “Without the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to recline and essentially instruct yourself to fall asleep. You need a natural inclination available to start the process in the first place. Personally, I can often nap in broad daylight and awaken on my own without a timer, however, what assists a lot of people is to anticipate a moment when they are naturally slightly tired and calmly allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and should options are scarce – for instance, when aiming to fit in some shut-eye on a train or at the office – it is perfectly fine to use sleep aids. “When I’m working with footballers, I recommend that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
