Listen to enough performance gurus, and you'll be simple to think that napping is a superpower: rather than a sticking plaster after a bad night’s sleep, but a route to improved recall, better spirits and possibly improved athletic performance. Premier League footballers do it regularly – and so are concert pianists, fighters and business leaders. Yet, when you lack a room for napping or a career that encourages frequent naps, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a quick nap to justify the hassle? Does there exist a reliable way to fall asleep fast? And can you honestly promise you will get up feeling better, instead of groggy?
Understanding Your Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three key drivers for taking a nap in the adult population,” says an expert circadian rhythm professor. “The first is what we call compensatory napping, which is what happens when you’ve had poor sleep the previous night. Another is prophylactic napping, where you are anticipating insufficient sleep in the future, for example during on night shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically boils down to wanting: there is a moment to sleep in the daytime, and it feels nice to nap.”
The initial step to undertake, therefore, is to think about your nap motivation. “Napping can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep is being disrupted for reasons beyond your control – such as, when you are a new parent, or you’re recovering from illness or intense exercise,” explains a sleep expert. “Yet when you take a nap as your sleep at night seems unreliable or unreliable, that can be a sign your body's sleep pressure is not as strong as it needs to be. In those cases, daytime sleep can turn into a contributing factor, not the solution. Employ naps for brief periods for short-term problems – the focus must always be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
This implies that naps ought not to be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your overnight rest, and preferably shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (based on what time you go to bed in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. Among the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, space agency scientists discovered that crew members had improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% increase in performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this counted a six-minute sleep onset time). “I recommend setting an alarm for half an hour or less – most people fall asleep quickly,” explains a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of guidance out there regarding the optimal amount for sleeping, yet that often cause people to feel more anxious above all – and the least helpful action you can do when trying to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “The science would say it is preferable to have an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” says the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is sufficient to send you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel sluggish when you wake up – whereas if you take it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing a full cycle and should awaken feeling more alert. However, if you're dozing for an hour and a half, it may impact the quality of your sleep that night.”
Establishing the Right Sleep Space
As for precise methods, advice differs. A few professionals propose adopting similar routines you use to foster restful sleep: a silent space, a cozy bed and as much darkness as possible. Some advise that you should simply nap on the sofa in the existing light is present – to prevent that groggy feeling and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the environment your brain links with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to will,” explains an expert. “Without any drowsiness, it becomes harder to recline and essentially command yourself to go to sleep. There must be some sleep pressure there to start the process initially. Personally, I can often take a nap in broad daylight and awaken on my own without a timer, however, what assists most folks is to wait for an instance that they’re naturally slightly tired and calmly ease into sleep.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if options are scarce – for instance, if you’re trying to squeeze in a quick nap during a commute or at the office – it is perfectly fine with bringing a few tools. “Coaching footballers, I suggest that they don’t get used to napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will
