Listen to a few self-improvement gurus, making it easy to believe that napping is a powerful tool: not just a sticking plaster following poor sleep, but a route towards a better memory, a brighter outlook and maybe quicker running times. Premier League athletes are all at it – and so are concert pianists, fighters & high-profile executives. But if you lack a room for napping or a career that encourages daytime sleep, are there *really* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the hassle? Does there exist a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? And can you honestly promise you will arise feeling better, not worse?
Understanding The Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three key drivers for daytime sleep among most adults,” explains an expert circadian rhythm researcher. “Firstly, there's known as recovery napping, which is the action you take after experiencing a lack of sleep the previous night. The second is preparatory napping, where you are pre-empting sleep loss coming up, such as if you’re working overnight shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which simply boils down to desire: you have a moment to nap during the day, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The first thing to consider, then, is to examine your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep gets interrupted for reasons you cannot change – for instance, for a new parent, or if you are healing after being ill or strenuous activity,” states a sleep physiologist. “However, if you nap since your nighttime sleep feels fragile or broken, that is frequently an indicator your sleep drive is not where it should be. In such situations, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods for short-term problems – the priority must always be a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
This means that naps shouldn’t be long enough to interfere with your sleep at night, and preferably shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (based on when you retire in the evening). How long is sensible? Advice differs. From a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa noted that astronauts showed improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% boost in performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this included a six-minute sleep onset time). “I recommend setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – most people are asleep in under ten minutes,” says a specialist. “There’s a lot of recommendations regarding the ideal number of minutes, yet that often make people feel more stressed than anything else – and the least helpful action you can possibly do when trying to nod off is to be anxious.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “Research indicates it's more effective to opt for an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to send you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel sluggish when you get up – whereas if you take it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to finish of a sleep cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more alert. Though if you nap for a long period, it can influence how you sleep that night.”
Finding the Right Sleep Space
As for specific techniques, recommendations vary. Certain specialists recommend employing the same protocol you’d use to foster a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that one could merely snooze in a chair in the existing light is available – to avoid that groggy feeling and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the environment your brain links with proper sleep. “Sleep is something really tricky to command,” explains a sleep coach. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and practically command yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some drive present to bring the sleep on in the first place. For me, it's possible to take a nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally alarm-free, but what helps many individuals is to anticipate a moment that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and should you have few options – for instance, when aiming to grab a quick nap during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong to employ some accessories. “Coaching footballers, I recommend that they don’t get used to napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will
