Hear plenty of self-improvement podcasters, making it easy to believe that napping is a secret weapon: not just a sticking plaster following a bad night’s sleep, but a path to enhanced cognition, improved mood and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Premier League athletes swear by it – and so are concert pianists, fighters and media moguls. But if you don't have a room for napping or employment that encourages daytime sleep, are there *really* enough benefits to a quick nap for it to be worth the hassle? Is there a reliable way to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you will get up feeling improved, rather than worse?
Identifying Your Nap Motivation
“Experts note three key drivers for daytime sleep for many people,” says a professor of sleep science professor. “The first is known as compensatory napping, which is what happens when you’ve had a lack of sleep the night before. The second is pre-emptive sleep, which involves pre-empting insufficient sleep in the future, for instance during on night shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which basically is about the wish: there is a moment to doze in the daytime, and it feels nice to nap.”
The first thing to consider, therefore, is to examine why you want to nap. “Naps can be truly beneficial when night sleeping gets interrupted due to causes beyond your control – such as, if you’re a new parent, or if you are healing after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep specialist. “However, if you’re napping since your night sleep is unstable or unreliable, that’s often an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not at the level required. Under those circumstances, naps can become a contributing factor, instead of the fix. Use napping for brief periods to address immediate needs – the focus should still be a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Perfect Nap Length
This means that daytime sleep shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to affect your overnight rest, and preferably should not occur in the late afternoon (based on when you go to bed overnight). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. In one of a prominent study about napping, space agency scientists found that astronauts showed up to a 54% increase in alertness and a 34% boost in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this counted a six-minute long sleep onset time). “I recommend setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – the majority are asleep quickly,” says a sleep expert. “There is plenty of recommendations concerning the ideal number of time, yet that often make people feel more worried than anything else – and the least helpful action you can do when attempting to get to sleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, steer clear of the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “The science indicates it's more effective to have a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” says the expert. “45 minutes is enough time to put you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel sluggish upon awakening – while if you nap for a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to finish of a sleep cycle and will probably wake up feeling more alert. However, if you're dozing for a long period, it will affect how you sleep in the evening.”
Establishing the Right Nap Environment
When it comes to precise methods, recommendations vary. Certain specialists suggest adopting similar routines you’d use to promote restful sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and as much darkness as you can manage. Some advise that one could merely snooze on the sofa with ambient lighting happens to be around – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to preserve your bedroom as the space your brain links with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to command,” says a sleep coach. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to lie down and basically instruct yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be some sleep pressure available to bring the sleep on in the first place. For me, it's possible to take a nap in full light and naturally wake up without an alarm, but what helps many individuals is to look for a time when they are naturally slightly tired and calmly ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if options are scarce – for example, when aiming to grab a quick nap while traveling or in a work pod – it's acceptable to use sleep aids. “Coaching elite athletes, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will
