Listen to enough performance experts, and you'll be easy to believe that napping is a superpower: rather than a band-aid following poor sleep, but a shortcut towards improved recall, a brighter outlook and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Premier League athletes do it regularly – along with concert pianists, UFC champions and high-profile executives. But if you don't have a room for napping or employment that encourages frequent naps, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a short sleep to justify the kerfuffle? Does there exist a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? And can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling improved, rather than worse?
Exploring Your Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three main reasons for daytime sleep for many people,” explains a professor of sleep science researcher. “One is known as compensatory napping, that is what happens after experiencing poor sleep the night before. Another is pre-emptive sleep, where you are pre-empting a sleep deficit in the future, such as during graveyard shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which basically comes down to the wish: there is an opportunity to sleep during the day, and it's pleasant to indulge.”
The primary task to undertake, so, is to think about your reason for napping. “Napping can be truly beneficial when overnight rest is being disrupted due to causes beyond your control – for example, if you’re caring for an infant, or if you are healing from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep physiologist. “However, if you take a nap as your nighttime sleep feels fragile or unreliable, that can be an indicator your need for sleep is not as strong as required. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the problem, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods for short-term problems – the focus ought to remain a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
Therefore that napping must not be long enough to disrupt your nighttime sleep, and ideally are not recommended in the late afternoon (based on when you go to bed at night). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. From the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, experts discovered that astronauts had improvements of over 50% in vigilance plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (technically, this counted an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – many individuals doze off in under ten minutes,” notes a specialist. “There’s a lot of guidance out there regarding the optimal amount for sleeping, however, that can lead individuals to become more stressed than anything else – and the least helpful action one can do when trying to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “Studies suggests it's more effective to opt for an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” says the professor. “45 minutes is enough time to put you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel disoriented when you get up – whereas if you extend it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to be on the end a full cycle and should get up feeling more alert. However, if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it can influence the quality of your sleep that night.”
Creating an Ideal Nap Environment
As for precise methods, recommendations vary. A few professionals suggest using the same protocol one would use to encourage restful sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that one could simply nap on a couch in whatever light is available – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bedroom as the place your mind associates with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to command,” says a sleep coach. “Without the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to recline and basically tell yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some sleep pressure available to initiate sleep to begin with. Personally, I can often take a nap during the day and awaken on my own without a timer, though, what aids most folks is to anticipate a moment where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and should options are scarce – for example, if you’re trying to fit in 40 winks while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine to use sleep aids. “Coaching footballers, I recommend that they not rely on their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
