Listen to a few self-improvement gurus, making it tempting to believe that a nap is a secret weapon: rather than a quick fix following restless night, but a path to improved recall, a brighter outlook and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Premier League soccer players do it regularly – as do musicians, UFC champions & business leaders. Yet, when you haven’t got a special sleep space or a career that allows regular snoozing, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a quick nap to merit the effort? Can you find a reliable way to nod off promptly? And can you really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling improved, not worse?
Understanding Your Drive to Snooze
“There are three key drivers for napping among most adults,” explains a leading sleep and circadian science professor. “Firstly, there's what we call make-up sleep, that is the action you take following poor sleep the night before. Another is prophylactic napping, which involves anticipating a sleep deficit ahead, such as when working overnight shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which simply is about wanting: you have a moment to doze in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The primary task to do, therefore, is consider your nap motivation. “Naps can be genuinely useful when overnight rest is disturbed because of factors outside your control – for example, for a new parent, or if you are healing after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep physiologist. “However, if you take a nap since your night sleep is unstable or poor, that is frequently an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not where required. In those cases, naps can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Use napping for brief periods for temporary issues – the focus should still be a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
Therefore that daytime sleep must not be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your sleep at night, and preferably shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (based on what time you sleep overnight). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most-cited studies about napping, experts noted that astronauts had improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% boost in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this involved an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “I recommend using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals are asleep quickly,” explains a sleep coach. “There is plenty of guidance out there about the perfect length of minutes, however, that can cause people to feel more worried above all – and the least helpful action one can do when trying to get to sleep is worry about it.”
If you plan to sleep for longer, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “The science indicates it’s better to take a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the expert. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel sluggish upon awakening – whereas if you take it a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to be on the end of a sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you’re sleeping for a long period, it may impact how you sleep that night.”
Establishing an Ideal Nap Environment
As for precise methods, suggestions are diverse. Certain specialists propose adopting the same protocol you’d use to foster restful sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and as much darkness as possible. Others suggest that one could simply nap on a couch in the existing light is available – to prevent that groggy feeling and to preserve your bed as the place your brain links with *real* sleep. “Sleep is notoriously difficult to command,” notes a sleep coach. “Lacking any drowsiness, it is more challenging to get comfortable and practically tell yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some drive present to initiate sleep in the first place. For me, it's possible to nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up without a timer, though, what aids a lot of people is to look for an instance when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if you have few options – such as, if attempting to squeeze in some shut-eye while traveling or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine to employ a few tools. “In my work with elite athletes, I suggest that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
