Tune into plenty of self-improvement experts, and it’s easy to believe that dozing is a secret weapon: more than a quick fix after a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut to enhanced cognition, improved mood and maybe quicker running times. Premier League footballers swear by it – as do musicians, fighters and business leaders. But if you lack a room for napping or employment that allows frequent naps, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a quick nap to justify the hassle? Does there exist a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you will get up feeling better, not worse?
Exploring Your Drive to Snooze
“There are three main reasons for taking a nap for many people,” notes an expert sleep and circadian science researcher. “One is termed recovery napping, that is what you do when you’ve had a lack of sleep the night before. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, which involves anticipating insufficient sleep ahead, for example if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which essentially is about wanting: you have a moment to doze during the day, and it feels nice to do it.”
The primary task to consider, therefore, is to examine why you want to nap. “Napping can be genuinely useful when overnight rest is being disrupted due to causes you cannot change – such as, for caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from sickness or intense exercise,” says a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you nap as your nighttime sleep is unstable or poor, that’s often a sign your need for sleep is not at the level it should be. In those cases, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the main goal must always be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This implies that daytime sleep ought not to be long enough to affect your nighttime sleep, and ideally should not occur in the late afternoon (based on the time you retire at night). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. In one of the most-cited studies on the subject, researchers at Nasa found that crew members experienced up to a 54% increase in attentiveness and a 34% boost in performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this involved an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority are asleep in under ten minutes,” says a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of advice around about the ideal number of minutes, yet that often cause people to feel more worried above all – and the most counterproductive thing you can do when attempting to fall asleep is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes sleep inertia, that foggy state when you awaken. “Research would say it’s better to take a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the expert. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to send you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented when you wake up – however, if you nap for a little longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to finish a full cycle and should wake up feeling more alert. Though if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it may impact the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Creating the Perfect Snooze Setting
Regarding exact methodologies, advice differs. Some experts propose adopting comparable habits you’d use to promote restful sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as you can manage. Others suggest that it's fine to just doze on a couch with ambient lighting is present – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to maintain your bed as the environment your mind associates with proper sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to force,” says a sleep coach. “Without the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to recline and practically instruct yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination present to start the process in the first place. Personally, I can often snooze in broad daylight and wake up naturally without an alarm, though, what aids a lot of people is to anticipate an instance when they are naturally slightly tired and calmly allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when you have few options – for instance, if you’re trying to grab 40 winks on a train or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine to use sleep aids. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I recommend that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
