Tune into enough productivity gurus, making it simple to believe that a nap is a superpower: more than a band-aid following poor sleep, but a shortcut towards improved recall, better spirits and perhaps improved athletic performance. Premier League footballers are all at it – and so are professional piano players, fighters & business leaders. Yet, when you haven’t got a room for napping or a job that permits frequent naps, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a quick nap for it to be worth the effort? Is there a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling better, not worse?
Identifying Your Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three key drivers for napping for many people,” notes a professor of circadian rhythm specialist. “One is what we call make-up sleep, which is what happens after experiencing insufficient sleep the night before. Secondly, there's pre-emptive sleep, which involves anticipating a sleep deficit ahead, for example when working graveyard shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which simply comes down to the wish: you have a chance to doze in the daytime, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The primary task to do, then, is to think about why you want to nap. “Naps can be genuinely useful when overnight rest is disturbed due to causes beyond your control – for instance, for caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from illness or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep specialist. “However, if you take a nap since your sleep at night seems unreliable or broken, that can be a sign your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as it should be. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the main goal should still be a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
Therefore that napping ought not to be too extended to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and preferably should not occur after about 3pm (depending on when you go to bed in the evening). How long is sensible? Advice differs. In one of the most referenced research on the subject, experts noted that crew members experienced improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% boost in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this included an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend setting a timer for half an hour or less – most people doze off quickly,” notes a sleep coach. “You'll find much guidance out there about the optimal amount of time, yet that often cause people to feel more stressed above all – and the worst thing you can possibly do when trying to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages that sluggish feeling, that foggy state upon waking. “The science would say it is preferable to opt for a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours compared to a medium-length nap,” says the sleep scientist. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to send you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel disoriented when you get up – whereas if you take it a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and should get up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it will affect how you sleep that night.”
Creating an Ideal Snooze Setting
As for precise methods, advice differs. Certain specialists propose using similar routines you use to promote quality nighttime sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and minimal light as you can manage. Some advise that you should simply nap on a couch in whatever light is present – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to preserve your bedroom as the space you associate with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to force,” explains a specialist. “Without any sleepiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and practically command yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be some sleep pressure available to start the process in the first place. I can usually snooze in broad daylight and wake up naturally without an alarm, however, what assists a lot of people is to wait for a moment when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and calmly ease into sleep.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when options are scarce – for example, when aiming to fit in some shut-eye during a commute or in a work pod – it's acceptable with bringing sleep aids. “When I’m working with footballers, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
