Listen to plenty of productivity experts, and it’s tempting to think that napping is a powerful tool: rather than a sticking plaster following restless night, but a path to enhanced cognition, improved mood and maybe a faster 5k run time. Professional athletes are all at it – along with concert pianists, fighters & high-profile executives. Yet, when you haven’t got a room for napping or a career that permits frequent naps, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a short sleep to justify the hassle? Can you find a dependable method to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling better, rather than worse?
Understanding The Nap Motivation
“Experts note three key drivers for taking a nap in the adult population,” says an expert sleep and circadian science professor. “One is termed compensatory napping, that is what happens when you’ve had insufficient sleep the night before. Another is pre-emptive sleep, where you are preparing for a sleep deficit coming up, for instance if you’re working on night shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which essentially comes down to wanting: you have a chance to sleep in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The first thing to consider, then, is to examine why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when overnight rest gets interrupted for reasons beyond your control – such as, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering from illness or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep specialist. “Yet when you take a nap because your sleep at night is unstable or unreliable, that is frequently a sign your body's sleep pressure is not where it needs to be. Under those circumstances, naps can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Use napping as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the focus should still be a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Nap Duration
Therefore that napping ought not to be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your overnight rest, and preferably should not occur after about 3pm (depending on the time you retire in the evening). How long is sensible? Advice differs. In one of the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa discovered that astronauts experienced up to a 54% increase in attentiveness and a 34% increase in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this involved a six-minute sleep onset time). “I’d suggest using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – most people doze off quickly,” says a specialist. “There is plenty of recommendations concerning the optimal amount of minutes, yet that often cause people to feel more anxious above all – and the worst thing you can do while aiming to get to sleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, bypass the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling when you awaken. “Research suggests it is preferable to have a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” explains the professor. “45 minutes is enough time to put you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – however, if you nap for a little longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you nap for 90 minutes, it will affect the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Creating the Perfect Sleep Space
As for precise methods, advice differs. Certain specialists recommend employing the same protocol you use to promote restful sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as you can manage. Some advise that it's fine to merely snooze on the sofa with ambient lighting happens to be around – to avoid sleep inertia and to maintain your bed as the space you associate with proper sleep. “Napping is quite challenging to force,” explains an expert. “Without any sleepiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and essentially tell yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination there to start the process to begin with. Personally, I can often nap during the day and wake up naturally alarm-free, however, what assists a lot of people is to anticipate a moment that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and if your choices are limited – for example, if attempting to grab a quick nap while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable to use some accessories. “In my work with elite athletes, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
