Hear enough self-improvement podcasters, and it’s easy to convince yourself that dozing is a superpower: more than a quick fix after restless night, but a shortcut to enhanced cognition, improved mood and possibly a faster 5k run time. Premier League footballers are all at it – and so are musicians, UFC champions & high-profile executives. Yet, when you lack a room for napping or a career that encourages regular snoozing, are there *really* enough benefits to a short sleep to merit the kerfuffle? Is there a reliable way to nod off promptly? And can you honestly promise you will get up feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Exploring The Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three key drivers for napping among most adults,” says an expert sleep science researcher. “The first is termed make-up sleep, that is the action you take following a lack of sleep overnight. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, when you are pre-empting insufficient sleep in the future, for example when working on night shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which simply boils down to the wish: you get a chance to sleep during the day, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The first thing to do, then, is consider your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when night sleeping is disturbed because of factors you cannot change – for instance, if you’re a new parent, or if you are healing from sickness or intense exercise,” explains a sleep specialist. “But if you take a nap as your night sleep seems unreliable or broken, that is frequently an indicator your sleep drive is not where it needs to be. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the main goal must always be a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This implies that napping ought not to be too extended to affect your sleep at night, and best shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (based on what time you go to bed overnight). How long is sensible? Advice differs. From the most referenced research about napping, researchers at Nasa found that crew members showed up to a 54% increase in alertness and a 34% boost in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this involved an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “I recommend setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals are asleep quickly,” explains a specialist. “There’s a lot of guidance out there about the optimal amount of time, however, that can lead individuals to become more stressed above all – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when attempting to nod off is worry about it.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, avoid the 45-60 minute window that promotes sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “The science suggests it's more effective to have a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is long enough to plunge you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel sluggish when you get up – whereas if you take it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing a full cycle and should get up feeling more rejuvenated. But if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it may impact how you sleep later that night.”
Creating the Perfect Sleep Space
Regarding exact methodologies, recommendations vary. Certain specialists recommend employing similar routines one would use to promote a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and minimal light as possible. Others suggest that it's fine to simply nap on the sofa with ambient lighting is available – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bed as the place your brain links with *real* sleep. “Sleep is something really tricky to will,” says a specialist. “Lacking the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to recline and practically command yourself to fall asleep. There must be some sleep pressure present to start the process initially. Personally, I can often take a nap in full light and awaken on my own without a timer, but what helps most folks is to anticipate an instance that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should you have few options – such as, if attempting to fit in some shut-eye on a train or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong to employ some accessories. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I recommend that they don’t get used to napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will
