Listen to plenty of performance experts, making it easy to convince yourself that dozing is a secret weapon: rather than a quick fix following poor sleep, but a shortcut to enhanced cognition, improved mood and maybe a faster 5k run time. Premier League footballers are all at it – as do concert pianists, mixed martial artists & media moguls. Yet, when you haven’t got a room for napping or a job that allows frequent naps, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a quick nap for it to be worth the effort? Can you find a reliable way to nod off promptly? And can you really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, not worse?
Identifying Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three key drivers for daytime sleep among most adults,” says an expert circadian rhythm professor. “The first is known as compensatory napping, which is what happens when you’ve had insufficient sleep overnight. The second is preparatory napping, which involves pre-empting a sleep deficit in the future, for example when working overnight shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which essentially is about desire: there is an opportunity to doze in the afternoon, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The first thing to undertake, then, is to examine why you want to nap. “Napping can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted for reasons outside your control – such as, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from sickness or strenuous activity,” states a sleep specialist. “However, if you’re napping since your nighttime sleep feels fragile or broken, that’s often a sign your sleep drive is not at the level it should be. In such situations, napping can become part of the problem, instead of the fix. Use napping as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the priority must always be a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Optimal Nap Length
Therefore that napping must not be too extended to affect your overnight rest, and ideally should not occur post-3 p.m. (depending on what time you go to bed overnight). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. Among a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa found that space travelers showed improvements of over 50% in vigilance plus a 34% rise in performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this involved a six-minute nodding-off period). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for half an hour or less – most people doze off in under ten minutes,” explains a sleep coach. “There is plenty of guidance out there regarding the ideal number of time, yet that often make people feel more worried than anything – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when attempting to nod off is worry about it.”
If you’re going to nap for a longer period, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that promotes sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “Studies would say it's more effective to opt for an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to put you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – while if you take it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to finish of a sleep cycle and should get up feeling more alert. Though if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it can influence how you sleep later that night.”
Finding the Right Nap Environment
Regarding specific techniques, advice differs. A few professionals suggest employing similar routines you use to foster restful sleep: a silent space, a cozy bed and as much darkness as you can manage. Others suggest that it's fine to just doze on a couch with ambient lighting is available – to prevent sleep inertia and to maintain your bed as the environment your brain links with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to command,” notes a specialist. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is tougher to get comfortable and basically instruct yourself to nod off. There’s got to be a natural inclination available to initiate sleep initially. I can usually take a nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally alarm-free, however, what assists a lot of people is to look for a moment where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when your choices are limited – such as, when aiming to fit in a quick nap while traveling or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine with bringing sleep aids. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I suggest that they not rely on their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
