Tune into plenty of self-improvement gurus, and it’s easy to convince yourself that napping is a powerful tool: more than a sticking plaster after restless night, but a route to a better memory, improved mood and perhaps improved athletic performance. Premier League footballers do it regularly – along with professional piano players, mixed martial artists and business leaders. However, if you lack a special sleep space or a job that encourages frequent naps, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a short sleep to merit the effort? Can you find a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling better, rather than worse?
Understanding Your Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three key drivers for daytime sleep in the adult population,” explains an expert sleep and circadian science researcher. “One is known as make-up sleep, that is what happens when you’ve had insufficient sleep overnight. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, which involves anticipating a sleep deficit ahead, for instance during overnight shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically boils down to desire: there is an opportunity to doze in the afternoon, and it feels nice to do it.”
The first thing to consider, therefore, is to examine your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when night sleeping gets interrupted for reasons you cannot change – for instance, if you’re a new parent, or you’re recovering from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep expert. “However, if you’re napping since your sleep at night seems unreliable or broken, that’s often a signal your need for sleep is not where required. In those cases, naps can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Employ naps for brief periods for temporary issues – the priority ought to remain a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Perfect Nap Duration
Therefore that napping must not be long enough to interfere with your sleep at night, and preferably are not recommended after about 3pm (depending on when you retire in the evening). How long is sensible? Advice differs. Among a prominent study on the subject, researchers at Nasa discovered that astronauts had a boost of up to 54% in vigilance and a 34% boost in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this counted an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – most people are asleep in under ten minutes,” explains a specialist. “You'll find much recommendations concerning the optimal amount of time, but that tends to make people feel more worried than anything else – and the worst thing you can possibly do while aiming to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
If you plan to sleep for longer, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “The science indicates it’s better to opt for a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” notes the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is long enough to send you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel sluggish upon awakening – while if you extend it slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be on the end of a sleep cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more alert. Though if you're dozing for a long period, it can influence the quality of your sleep that night.”
Creating an Ideal Nap Environment
As for specific techniques, recommendations vary. A few professionals propose using the same protocol you use to encourage restful sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and as much darkness as possible. Some advise that one could simply nap in a chair in the existing light is present – to prevent sleep inertia and to preserve your bedroom as the place you associate with proper sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to command,” explains a specialist. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it is tougher to lie down and practically tell yourself to go to sleep. You need some sleep pressure available to start the process in the first place. Personally, I can often nap during the day and wake up naturally without a timer, however, what assists many individuals is to anticipate a time where they feel naturally slightly tired and calmly allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if options are scarce – for instance, if you’re trying to squeeze in 40 winks on a train or in a work pod – it's acceptable to use a few tools. “In my work with footballers, I advise that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, as they’re going to have|they will
