Hear plenty of self-improvement gurus, and you'll be tempting to convince yourself that a nap is a superpower: rather than a sticking plaster following a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut to a better memory, improved mood and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Elite athletes do it regularly – along with concert pianists, fighters and media moguls. However, if you lack a special sleep space or a career that permits daytime sleep, are there *really* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye to justify the hassle? Can you find a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? And can you honestly promise you will get up feeling better, rather than worse?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“There are three main reasons for daytime sleep for many people,” explains a professor of circadian rhythm specialist. “One is known as compensatory napping, which is what happens following poor sleep the previous night. The second is pre-emptive sleep, where you are pre-empting insufficient sleep in the future, such as during overnight shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which basically is about wanting: there is a chance to nap in the daytime, and it feels nice to nap.”
The first thing to undertake, so, is to think about why you want to nap. “Naps can be genuinely useful when overnight rest is disturbed because of factors you cannot change – for example, if you’re a new parent, or recovering from sickness or intense exercise,” explains a sleep expert. “But if you take a nap since your sleep at night is unstable or broken, that’s often a signal your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as it needs to be. Under those circumstances, napping can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Employ naps as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the focus should still be a robust and regular night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Nap Length
This means that napping must not be long enough to disrupt your sleep at night, and preferably are not recommended in the late afternoon (based on the time you go to bed at night). What duration is wise? Advice differs. From a prominent study on the subject, experts found that space travelers experienced up to a 54% increase in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this counted an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – many individuals are asleep quickly,” explains a sleep expert. “There is plenty of recommendations concerning the ideal number of minutes, yet that often make people feel more worried than anything else – and the worst thing one can do while aiming to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Studies indicates it’s better to opt for a longer nap of one to one and a half hours rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is enough time to put you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel sluggish when you get up – however, if you take it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end a full cycle and should awaken feeling more alert. Though if you’re sleeping for a long period, it may impact the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Finding the Perfect Nap Environment
As for exact methodologies, advice differs. A few professionals suggest using similar routines one would use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a cozy bed and minimal light as you can manage. Some advise that it's fine to simply nap on a couch in whatever light is present – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bed as the place you associate with proper sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to force,” says a specialist. “Lacking any drowsiness, it becomes harder to lie down and essentially tell yourself to go to sleep. There must be some sleep pressure present to initiate sleep initially. For me, it's possible to nap during the day and wake up naturally without an alarm, however, what assists a lot of people is to look for an instance when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly ease into sleep.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when your choices are limited – for example, if you’re trying to grab a quick nap during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine to employ some accessories. “Coaching footballers, I advise that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, as they’re going to have|they will
