Listen to plenty of performance gurus, making it simple to think that a nap is a secret weapon: not just a quick fix following poor sleep, but a route towards a better memory, better spirits and possibly improved athletic performance. Premier League athletes swear by it – along with musicians, fighters & high-profile executives. Yet, when you haven’t got a special sleep space or a career that permits daytime sleep, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the hassle? Can you find a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Identifying Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three primary motivations for napping in the adult population,” says an expert sleep science specialist. “One is known as make-up sleep, essentially what you do following a lack of sleep the previous night. Another is prophylactic napping, which involves preparing for a sleep deficit in the future, for instance when working graveyard shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially comes down to the wish: you have a moment to sleep in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to indulge.”
The primary task to do, therefore, is to think about why you want to nap. “Napping can be genuinely useful when night sleeping gets interrupted for reasons you cannot change – for example, for a new parent, or you’re recovering after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep expert. “Yet when you’re napping since your sleep at night is unstable or broken, that’s often an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not where required. In such situations, naps can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the main goal must always be a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Length
This means that naps shouldn’t be too extended to affect your nighttime sleep, and best shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (based on the time you sleep overnight). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. From the most-cited studies about napping, space agency scientists noted that astronauts experienced a boost of up to 54% in alertness and a 34% increase in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this counted an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “My advice is setting an alarm for half an hour or less – most people fall asleep in under ten minutes,” says a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of advice around about the optimal amount of time, however, that can cause people to feel more stressed than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing you can do when attempting to nod off is worry about it.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, avoid the 45-60 minute window that promotes that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling when you awaken. “Research suggests it’s better to take a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the professor. “45 minutes is long enough to send you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel disoriented upon awakening – while if you take it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing a full cycle and should get up feeling more refreshed. But if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it will affect the quality of your sleep that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Sleep Space
As for specific techniques, recommendations vary. A few professionals suggest employing similar routines you use to encourage restful sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as you can manage. Some advise that one could simply nap on the sofa in the existing light is present – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the space your mind associates with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to command,” says an expert. “Lacking any sleepiness, it becomes harder to lie down and essentially instruct yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination available to initiate sleep initially. Personally, I can often snooze in broad daylight and awaken on my own without a timer, however, what assists many individuals is to look for a moment when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when options are scarce – for instance, when aiming to squeeze in a quick nap on a train or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable to use sleep aids. “Coaching footballers, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
