Listen to enough performance gurus, making it simple to think that a nap is a superpower: not just a sticking plaster after poor sleep, but a path towards a better memory, improved mood and perhaps quicker running times. Premier League athletes are all at it – as do professional piano players, fighters and high-profile executives. However, if you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or a career that encourages daytime sleep, are there *really* sufficient advantages to a short sleep to merit the effort? Is there a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you really guarantee you will get up feeling improved, not worse?
Understanding The Reasons for Napping
“There are three key drivers for napping among most adults,” notes a leading sleep and circadian science specialist. “Firstly, there's what we call recovery napping, which is what happens when you’ve had a lack of sleep the night before. Another is prophylactic napping, when you are preparing for insufficient sleep ahead, for instance if you’re working overnight shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which essentially comes down to desire: you get a moment to doze in the daytime, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The first thing to do, so, is to think about why you want to nap. “Naps can be genuinely useful when overnight rest is disturbed due to causes you cannot change – such as, if you’re a new parent, or if you are healing after being ill or intense exercise,” states a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you nap because your night sleep is unstable or unreliable, that is frequently a signal your sleep drive is not at the level it needs to be. In such situations, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Use napping as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the priority must always be a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This implies that naps must not be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your overnight rest, and best are not recommended in the late afternoon (contingent on what time you go to bed at night). How long is sensible? Advice differs. In one of a prominent study on the subject, researchers at Nasa discovered that space travelers showed up to a 54% increase in alertness and a 34% boost in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this included a six-minute long sleep onset time). “My advice is setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – many individuals fall asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of recommendations concerning the ideal number of minutes, yet that often cause people to feel more anxious above all – and the worst thing you can possibly do when trying to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “Research indicates it’s better to take an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the professor. “45 minutes is enough time to put you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel sluggish when you get up – whereas if you extend it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to finish a natural sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you nap for a long period, it can influence your sleep later that night.”
Creating the Perfect Nap Environment
As for exact methodologies, advice differs. Some experts suggest adopting the same protocol you use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to simply nap on a couch in the existing light is available – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to maintain your bedroom as the space your mind associates with nighttime rest. “Napping is something really tricky to will,” notes a specialist. “Lacking the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to recline and basically command yourself to nod off. You need some sleep pressure present to bring the sleep on in the first place. I can usually nap during the day and awaken on my own without an alarm, though, what aids most folks is to look for a time that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently relax into it.”
Experimentation is key, and if options are scarce – such as, when aiming to fit in 40 winks on a train or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong with bringing sleep aids. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
