Hear a few productivity podcasters, and it’s easy to believe that dozing is a powerful tool: rather than a sticking plaster following poor sleep, but a path to improved recall, a brighter outlook and possibly improved athletic performance. Elite footballers swear by it – along with professional piano players, fighters and high-profile executives. But if you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or employment that allows regular snoozing, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a quick nap to justify the hassle? Does there exist a reliable way to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling better, instead of groggy?
Exploring Your Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three key drivers for taking a nap in the adult population,” notes a professor of circadian rhythm specialist. “The first is termed compensatory napping, that is what you do when you’ve had a lack of sleep the night before. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, which involves anticipating a sleep deficit coming up, for example during graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially is about wanting: you get an opportunity to nap in the afternoon, and it feels nice to nap.”
The initial step to do, so, is to think about your reason for napping. “Napping can be genuinely useful when overnight rest gets interrupted for reasons outside your control – for instance, when you are a new parent, or recovering from illness or heavy physical exertion,” states a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you nap as your sleep at night is unstable or broken, that is frequently a sign your sleep drive is not where it should be. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the issue, not the solution. Employ naps as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the main goal should still be a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
This means that daytime sleep ought not to be long enough to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and preferably shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (based on the time you go to bed at night). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. Among a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, space agency scientists found that crew members experienced a boost of up to 54% in vigilance and a 34% increase in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this included an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend setting an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals fall asleep in under ten minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of recommendations regarding the optimal amount for sleeping, but that tends to make people feel more anxious than anything – and the worst thing one can do when trying to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, bypass the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages sleep inertia, that foggy state when you wake. “The science suggests it’s better to take a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” says the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel sluggish when you get up – however, if you extend it a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to finish a natural sleep cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more refreshed. But if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it will affect the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Finding the Perfect Sleep Space
Regarding exact methodologies, recommendations vary. Some experts recommend adopting the same protocol you’d use to encourage restful sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and as much darkness as is feasible. Alternatively, experts propose that you should simply nap on a couch in the existing light is present – to avoid sleep inertia and to maintain your bedroom as the environment you associate with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to will,” notes a specialist. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to lie down and basically instruct yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination present to initiate sleep to begin with. For me, it's possible to take a nap in broad daylight and awaken on my own without a timer, though, what aids many individuals is to wait for a time when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently relax into it.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if options are scarce – for example, if attempting to grab some shut-eye during a commute or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong to use sleep aids. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I recommend that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
