Tune into enough performance podcasters, and you'll be easy to think that a nap is a powerful tool: more than a sticking plaster after a bad night’s sleep, but a route to a better memory, a brighter outlook and possibly a faster 5k run time. Professional athletes swear by it – and so are concert pianists, mixed martial artists & high-profile executives. However, if you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or employment that permits daytime sleep, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye to merit the kerfuffle? Does there exist a surefire technique to nod off promptly? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you will get up feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Identifying The Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three key drivers for daytime sleep among most adults,” says an expert sleep and circadian science specialist. “One is known as compensatory napping, that is what you do when you’ve had insufficient sleep overnight. The second is pre-emptive sleep, where you are preparing for a sleep deficit coming up, for instance when working on night shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically boils down to desire: there is an opportunity to sleep during the day, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The first thing to do, therefore, is consider your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when nighttime sleep is disturbed for reasons you cannot change – for example, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from illness or strenuous activity,” says a sleep expert. “But if you take a nap as your night sleep feels fragile or broken, that is frequently a signal your sleep drive is not at the level required. In those cases, napping can become part of the problem, not the solution. Employ naps as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the main goal must always be a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This implies that napping must not be long enough to disrupt your sleep at night, and ideally shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (depending on what time you retire overnight). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. In one of a prominent study about napping, researchers at Nasa found that astronauts showed improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% boost in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this involved a six-minute long sleep onset time). “I recommend using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – most people doze off within 10 minutes,” says a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of advice around about the perfect length of minutes, however, that can make people feel more anxious than anything – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when attempting to nod off is to stress over it.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces sleep inertia, that foggy state when you wake. “Research indicates it's more effective to take a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” explains the expert. “45 minutes is sufficient to put you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel disoriented when you wake up – whereas if you extend it a bit 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 alert. However, if you nap for a long period, it can influence the quality of your sleep that night.”
Finding an Ideal Sleep Space
Regarding precise methods, suggestions are diverse. Certain specialists suggest adopting the same protocol you use to promote a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and minimal light as you can manage. Some advise that it's fine to merely snooze on a couch in whatever light is available – both to discourage sleep inertia and to maintain your bed as the space your brain links with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to force,” says an expert. “Without any drowsiness, it is more challenging to recline and essentially command yourself to nod off. You need a natural inclination available to bring the sleep on in the first place. I can usually take a nap during the day and naturally wake up alarm-free, though, what aids many individuals is to anticipate an instance when they are naturally slightly tired and then simply allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if your choices are limited – for example, if you’re trying to fit in 40 winks on a train or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong to employ some accessories. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I advise that they not rely on their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
