Tune into plenty of performance experts, and it’s tempting to convince yourself that dozing is a superpower: not just a quick fix following restless night, but a path towards improved recall, a brighter outlook and maybe improved athletic performance. Professional soccer players swear by it – as do professional piano players, UFC champions & high-profile executives. But if you haven’t got a special sleep space or a job that allows daytime sleep, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a quick nap to justify the hassle? Is there a surefire technique to nod off promptly? And can you truly ensure you will arise feeling improved, rather than worse?
Understanding Your Reasons for Napping
“There are three key drivers for taking a nap for many people,” explains a professor of circadian rhythm specialist. “The first is known as compensatory napping, that is what happens after experiencing a lack of sleep the previous night. The second is preparatory napping, where you are pre-empting insufficient sleep in the future, such as if you’re working on night shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically is about wanting: there is an opportunity to nap in the afternoon, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The primary task to consider, then, is to examine your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when overnight rest is disturbed because of factors outside your control – for instance, for a new parent, or if you are healing from sickness or intense exercise,” says a sleep expert. “Yet when you take a nap as your sleep at night is unstable or unreliable, that’s often a signal your body's sleep pressure is not at the level it should be. In such situations, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, not the solution. Use napping for brief periods for short-term problems – the priority must always be a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Perfect Nap Duration
This means that naps must not be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your sleep at night, and best are not recommended after about 3pm (depending on the time you sleep at night). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. In one of a prominent study about napping, researchers at Nasa found that crew members experienced a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in task performance after a 26-minute nap (in detail, this counted an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “My advice is setting a timer for half an hour or less – most people fall asleep in under ten minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “You'll find much recommendations about the optimal amount of time, yet that often make people feel more stressed than anything else – and the worst thing you can do when attempting to fall asleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “The science would say it’s better to take a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” explains the professor. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to send you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel groggy upon awakening – while if you nap for slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing a full cycle and should awaken feeling more alert. Though if you're dozing for an hour and a half, it may impact how you sleep in the evening.”
Finding an Ideal Sleep Space
When it comes to exact methodologies, recommendations vary. A few professionals suggest adopting the same protocol you’d use to foster a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as possible. Others suggest that one could merely snooze on the sofa with ambient lighting happens to be around – to avoid sleep inertia and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the environment your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Napping is something really tricky to command,” notes a sleep coach. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it is tougher to get comfortable and basically instruct yourself to go to sleep. You need a natural inclination there to bring the sleep on initially. Personally, I can often take a nap in full light and wake up naturally alarm-free, however, what assists a lot of people is to anticipate a time that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and should your choices are limited – for example, if you’re trying to fit in some shut-eye during a commute or in a work pod – it's acceptable with bringing sleep aids. “In my work with footballers, I advise that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
