Hear plenty of productivity gurus, and it’s tempting to think that dozing is a powerful tool: rather than a quick fix after a bad night’s sleep, but a path to improved recall, better spirits and maybe improved athletic performance. Elite footballers do it regularly – as do concert pianists, UFC champions & high-profile executives. But if you don't have a special sleep space or a career that permits daytime sleep, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a quick nap for it to be worth the effort? Is there a surefire technique to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you will arise feeling refreshed, not worse?
Exploring Your Reasons for Napping
“There are three key drivers for daytime sleep in the adult population,” says a professor of sleep science researcher. “The first is termed make-up sleep, which is the action you take following poor sleep overnight. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, when you are anticipating sleep loss coming up, for example if you’re working on night shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which essentially boils down to the wish: you get a moment to sleep during the day, and it feels nice to nap.”
The initial step to consider, then, is consider your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep gets interrupted because of factors outside your control – such as, for caring for an infant, or recovering after being ill or strenuous activity,” says a sleep physiologist. “But if you take a nap as your sleep at night seems unreliable or poor, that’s often a sign your need for sleep is not where it needs to be. In those cases, napping can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Use napping for brief periods for temporary issues – the priority should still be a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
Therefore that daytime sleep shouldn’t be long enough to affect your overnight rest, and best are not recommended in the late afternoon (based on when you go to bed overnight). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. From a prominent study about napping, experts found that crew members experienced up to a 54% increase in alertness plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (technically, this counted a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority fall asleep in under ten minutes,” notes a specialist. “You'll find much advice around regarding the perfect length of minutes, yet that often lead individuals to become more stressed above all – and the worst thing one can do when trying to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, avoid the 45-60 minute window that induces sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “The science indicates it’s better to take a longer nap of one to one and a half hours compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is long enough to put you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel sluggish when you wake up – however, if you take it a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing of a sleep cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more refreshed. However, if you're dozing for a long period, it will affect your sleep later that night.”
Creating the Perfect Sleep Space
As for exact methodologies, advice differs. Certain specialists recommend adopting comparable habits one would use to foster restful sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that one could simply nap on a couch with ambient lighting happens to be around – to avoid that groggy feeling and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the space your mind associates with nighttime rest. “Sleep is quite challenging to force,” says an expert. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and basically command yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be some sleep pressure there to initiate sleep initially. Personally, I can often take a nap in full light and naturally wake up alarm-free, but what helps most folks is to anticipate a time when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if your choices are limited – for example, if attempting to fit in some shut-eye on a train or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable to employ a few tools. “In my work with elite athletes, I recommend that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
