Listen to enough productivity gurus, making it easy to think that dozing is a secret weapon: rather than a band-aid after poor sleep, but a route to enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and perhaps quicker running times. Professional soccer players swear by it – as do musicians, UFC champions & business leaders. But if you don't have a room for napping or a job that permits daytime sleep, are there *really* enough benefits to a quick nap for it to be worth the effort? Does there exist a reliable way to nod off promptly? And can you honestly promise you will arise feeling better, not worse?
Understanding The Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three primary motivations for napping among most adults,” explains a professor of sleep science researcher. “One is what we call compensatory napping, that is the action you take when you’ve had poor sleep the night before. Another is prophylactic napping, where you are anticipating insufficient sleep in the future, for example when working on night shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which essentially comes down to the wish: you get a chance to sleep in the daytime, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The first thing to do, so, is to think about why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when overnight rest is disturbed due to causes you cannot change – such as, for a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from illness or heavy physical exertion,” states a sleep physiologist. “However, if you take a nap as your night sleep is unstable or broken, that can be an indicator your need for sleep is not as strong as it needs to be. In those cases, naps can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the main goal must always be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
Therefore that daytime sleep shouldn’t be too extended to interfere with your overnight rest, and ideally should not occur post-3 p.m. (depending on what time you retire at night). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. From the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa found that astronauts had improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% boost in task performance after a 26-minute nap (technically, this included a six-minute falling asleep phase). “My advice is setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – many individuals fall asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of advice around regarding the ideal number for sleeping, yet that often make people feel more anxious above all – and the least helpful action one can do while aiming to nod off is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that encourages sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “Research would say it is preferable to take a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the sleep scientist. “Three-quarters of an hour is long enough to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – however, if you extend it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to be completing a natural sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more refreshed. However, if you nap for an hour and a half, it will affect how you sleep that night.”
Finding the Right Snooze Setting
As for precise methods, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals recommend using the same protocol you use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as possible. Some advise that you should just doze on a couch with ambient lighting is available – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the environment your brain links with nighttime rest. “Sleep is quite challenging to will,” explains a sleep coach. “Without any sleepiness, it becomes harder to lie down and essentially command yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some sleep pressure there to start the process in the first place. Personally, I can often nap in full light and wake up naturally without an alarm, however, what assists a lot of people is to look for a time when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should options are scarce – for instance, if attempting to squeeze in some shut-eye on a train or at the office – it's acceptable with bringing sleep aids. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I advise that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
