Hear a few productivity podcasters, and you'll be simple to convince yourself that dozing is a powerful tool: rather than a sticking plaster following restless night, but a route towards enhanced cognition, better spirits and maybe improved athletic performance. Professional soccer players are all at it – as do concert pianists, UFC champions & high-profile executives. Yet, when you don't have a special sleep space or a career that encourages daytime sleep, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye to merit the effort? Can you find a dependable method to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you will get up feeling better, instead of groggy?
Exploring Your Drive to Snooze
“There are three main reasons for napping for many people,” explains a professor of sleep and circadian science specialist. “Firstly, there's known as recovery napping, that is what you do following insufficient sleep the previous night. Another is pre-emptive sleep, where you are preparing for insufficient sleep ahead, for example if you’re working graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially boils down to desire: there is a moment to nap in the daytime, and it feels nice to do it.”
The first thing to do, so, is consider your reason for napping. “Naps can be genuinely useful when overnight rest is being disrupted for reasons outside your control – for instance, if you’re a new parent, or recovering after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep physiologist. “But if you take a nap since your sleep at night seems unreliable or broken, that is frequently a sign your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as required. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, rather than the answer. Use napping for brief periods for temporary issues – the priority ought to remain a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This means that napping ought not to be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your sleep at night, and preferably are not recommended post-3 p.m. (based on what time you retire at night). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, space agency scientists discovered that crew members experienced up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% boost in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this counted an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – the majority are asleep quickly,” says a specialist. “You'll find much guidance out there about the ideal number of minutes, however, that can 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, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that induces that sluggish feeling, that foggy state when you wake. “The science would say it's more effective to have an extended nap of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” notes the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to plunge you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel groggy when you wake up – while if you take it a little longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to be on the end of a sleep cycle and will probably wake up feeling more alert. However, if you nap for 90 minutes, it will affect how you sleep in the evening.”
Establishing the Right Nap Environment
Regarding precise methods, recommendations vary. Certain specialists recommend employing the same protocol one would use to promote a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and minimal light as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to just doze on the sofa in whatever light happens to be around – both to discourage sleep inertia and to maintain your bedroom as the space you associate with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to force,” explains a specialist. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and practically instruct yourself to nod off. You need some sleep pressure present to initiate sleep to begin with. I can usually nap during the day and wake up naturally alarm-free, but what helps most folks is to look for a time when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently relax into it.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and should your choices are limited – for instance, if attempting to grab a quick nap while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong to employ sleep aids. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will
