Tune into enough productivity experts, and it’s easy to convince yourself that napping is a superpower: rather than a band-aid after poor sleep, but a route to enhanced cognition, improved mood and possibly improved athletic performance. Professional soccer players are all at it – and so are musicians, mixed martial artists and business leaders. But if you don't have a dedicated nap-room or a career that permits regular snoozing, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a quick nap for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Can you find a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you will get up feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Understanding Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three main reasons for napping for many people,” says a leading sleep and circadian science researcher. “Firstly, there's known as compensatory napping, essentially what happens after experiencing insufficient sleep the night before. Another is prophylactic napping, when you are anticipating sleep loss coming up, for example when working graveyard shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially is about the wish: you get a moment to doze during the day, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The initial step to consider, so, is to examine why you want to nap. “Napping can be truly beneficial when night sleeping is being disrupted for reasons you cannot change – for instance, if you’re caring for an infant, or if you are healing from illness or intense exercise,” explains a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you take a nap as your night sleep is unstable or unreliable, that’s often a signal your need for sleep is not at the level required. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the problem, not the solution. Use napping for brief periods for short-term problems – the main goal must always be a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Perfect Nap Duration
Therefore that daytime sleep must not be too extended to affect your nighttime sleep, and best should not occur post-3 p.m. (depending on the time you go to bed at night). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. From the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, experts found that astronauts had a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this included an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting a timer for half an hour or less – most people are asleep quickly,” notes a specialist. “There’s a lot of advice around concerning the perfect length for sleeping, yet that often lead individuals to become more stressed than anything – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when trying to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, steer clear of the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “Research would say it’s better to take an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” says the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is long enough to put you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel groggy when you wake up – while if you extend it slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to be completing a natural sleep cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more rejuvenated. But if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it can influence how you sleep that night.”
Finding an Ideal Sleep Space
As for precise methods, recommendations vary. A few professionals recommend employing the same protocol you’d use to foster restful sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as is feasible. Some advise that it's fine to simply nap on the sofa with ambient lighting is available – both to discourage sleep inertia and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the place your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Napping is something really tricky to command,” notes a specialist. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is tougher to get comfortable and basically command yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be some drive available to start the process in the first place. Personally, I can often nap during the day and naturally wake up without an alarm, but what helps a lot of people is to anticipate a time when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if your choices are limited – for instance, if you’re trying to fit in 40 winks while traveling or at the office – it's acceptable to use some accessories. “In my work with elite athletes, I recommend that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
