Tune into enough productivity podcasters, making it tempting to convince yourself that napping is a secret weapon: not just a quick fix after restless night, but a shortcut towards improved recall, improved mood and maybe improved athletic performance. Premier League footballers are all at it – along with concert pianists, mixed martial artists and media moguls. Yet, when you don't have a room for napping or a career that allows regular snoozing, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a quick nap to justify the effort? Can you find a reliable way to nod off promptly? And can you honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Identifying Your Drive to Snooze
“There are three primary motivations for napping among most adults,” explains a professor of sleep and circadian science specialist. “The first is known as recovery napping, that is what you do when you’ve had poor sleep overnight. The second is pre-emptive sleep, which involves pre-empting sleep loss in the future, for instance when working on night shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which basically comes down to the wish: you have an opportunity to doze in the afternoon, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The initial step to consider, therefore, is consider why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep is disturbed due to causes beyond your control – for instance, when you are a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering after being ill or intense exercise,” states a sleep specialist. “But if you nap because your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or poor, that is frequently a signal your sleep drive is not where it needs to be. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods to address immediate needs – the priority should still be a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Perfect Nap Length
This means that napping must not be too extended to disrupt your sleep at night, and preferably shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (contingent on when you go to bed overnight). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, space agency scientists discovered that space travelers showed up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% increase in performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this counted an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – most people are asleep within 10 minutes,” explains a specialist. “There is plenty of guidance out there about the optimal amount of minutes, but that tends to lead individuals to become more stressed than anything else – and the least helpful action one can do when attempting to nod off is to stress over it.”
If you plan to sleep for longer, steer clear of the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “The science suggests it’s better to take a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the expert. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to plunge you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel sluggish upon awakening – whereas if you nap for a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to finish of a sleep cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more refreshed. However, if you nap for an hour and a half, it will affect how you sleep in the evening.”
Establishing the Right Nap Environment
Regarding exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. Some experts recommend using similar routines you use to encourage restful sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as you can manage. Some advise that it's fine to merely snooze on the sofa with ambient lighting is present – to avoid that groggy feeling and to preserve your bed as the place your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to command,” explains a specialist. “Lacking any sleepiness, it is tougher to get comfortable and practically tell yourself to go to sleep. You need a natural inclination present to initiate sleep to begin with. Personally, I can often nap during the day and naturally wake up without a timer, though, what aids a lot of people is to anticipate a time when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply relax into it.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when options are scarce – for instance, when aiming to squeeze in a quick nap while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine to employ some accessories. “In my work with footballers, I recommend that they not rely on their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
