Hear plenty of productivity experts, making it simple to believe that dozing is a powerful tool: not just a band-aid after a bad night’s sleep, but a route towards a better memory, improved mood and possibly a faster 5k run time. Professional soccer players swear by it – and so are concert pianists, fighters & media moguls. Yet, when you lack a dedicated nap-room or a job that allows daytime sleep, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a short sleep to justify the kerfuffle? Is there a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you will arise feeling better, rather than worse?
Exploring Your Reasons for Napping
“There are three primary motivations for napping in the adult population,” explains a professor of circadian rhythm researcher. “The first is known as make-up sleep, which is what happens after experiencing a lack of sleep the previous night. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, when you are preparing for a sleep deficit coming up, such as when working on night shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially is about desire: you get an opportunity to nap during the day, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The primary task to consider, therefore, is to examine why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when night sleeping is being disrupted due to causes outside your control – for instance, for caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from illness or intense exercise,” says a sleep physiologist. “But if you take a nap as your nighttime sleep feels fragile or broken, that’s often an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as it should be. In those cases, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods for short-term problems – the main goal should still be a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Length
This implies that daytime sleep must not be long enough to affect your overnight rest, and best are not recommended in the late afternoon (depending on the time you go to bed at night). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. From the most referenced research on the subject, researchers at Nasa discovered that crew members experienced up to a 54% increase in alertness and a 34% boost in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this involved a six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – most people doze off in under ten minutes,” says a sleep coach. “You'll find much recommendations concerning the optimal amount of time, but that tends to make people feel more anxious than anything – and the most counterproductive thing you can do while aiming to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that promotes that sluggish feeling, that foggy state upon waking. “Research indicates it's more effective to take a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” says the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is long enough to send you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel groggy upon awakening – while if you nap for a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing a full cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you nap for a long period, it can influence how you sleep later that night.”
Establishing the Right Nap Environment
As for specific techniques, suggestions are diverse. Certain specialists suggest adopting the same protocol you’d use to foster a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and minimal light as is feasible. Others suggest that it's fine to simply nap in a chair in the existing light happens to be around – to avoid that groggy feeling and to preserve your bedroom as the place your brain links with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to command,” notes an expert. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it is tougher to get comfortable and practically command yourself to fall asleep. You need a natural inclination there to initiate sleep to begin with. I can usually take a nap in full light and naturally wake up without a timer, but what helps most folks is to look for an instance where they feel naturally slightly tired and just gently ease into sleep.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when your choices are limited – for instance, if you’re trying to fit in a quick nap during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong with bringing some accessories. “When I’m working with professional sportspeople, I suggest that they don’t get used to napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will
