Hear plenty of productivity gurus, making it tempting to convince yourself that dozing is a superpower: more than a quick fix after restless night, but a route to improved recall, a brighter outlook and possibly a faster 5k run time. Premier League soccer players are all at it – and so are concert pianists, fighters & business leaders. Yet, when you lack a room for napping or a job that encourages regular snoozing, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a quick nap for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Does there exist a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling improved, not worse?
Understanding Your Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three main reasons for napping for many people,” notes an expert sleep and circadian science specialist. “The first is what we call make-up sleep, essentially what you do after experiencing a lack of sleep the night before. Another is prophylactic napping, which involves pre-empting sleep loss coming up, such as if you’re working overnight shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially boils down to desire: you get a chance to doze in the daytime, and it's pleasant to indulge.”
The initial step to do, then, is consider why you want to nap. “Naps can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep gets interrupted because of factors beyond your control – for instance, if you’re caring for an infant, or recovering from sickness or intense exercise,” explains a sleep specialist. “But if you’re napping since your sleep at night is unstable or broken, that is frequently a signal your need for sleep is not where required. In those cases, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the main goal ought to remain a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Nap Length
Therefore that daytime sleep must not be long enough to affect your sleep at night, and preferably are not recommended after about 3pm (depending on the time you retire at night). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. Among the most referenced research about napping, researchers at Nasa discovered that crew members experienced up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% increase in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this involved a six-minute falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest setting a timer for half an hour or less – the majority doze off quickly,” explains a specialist. “There is plenty of recommendations about the perfect length for sleeping, however, that can lead individuals to become more stressed than anything – and the least helpful action you can do while aiming to nod off is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to nap for a longer period, avoid the 45-60 minute window that induces sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling when you awaken. “Studies would say it is preferable to take a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is long enough to send you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented when you wake up – while if you nap for a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to finish a natural sleep cycle and should awaken feeling more refreshed. However, if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it can influence how you sleep in the evening.”
Finding the Right Sleep Space
As for precise methods, advice differs. Certain specialists suggest adopting the same protocol one would use to foster restful sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that you should merely snooze on a couch with ambient lighting happens to be around – to prevent that groggy feeling and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the environment your mind associates with nighttime rest. “Napping is quite challenging to force,” notes a specialist. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to recline and practically tell yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some drive there to bring the sleep on initially. I can usually snooze in full light and naturally wake up without an alarm, but what helps a lot of people is to wait for a time where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and when your choices are limited – for instance, when aiming to squeeze in 40 winks on a train or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong with bringing a few tools. “When I’m working with footballers, I suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
