Hear a few self-improvement gurus, and you'll be easy to think that dozing is a superpower: more than a band-aid following a bad night’s sleep, but a path towards improved recall, improved mood and maybe quicker running times. Premier League soccer players are all at it – along with musicians, UFC champions and high-profile executives. But if you don't have a room for napping or employment that permits daytime sleep, is it *truly* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye to merit the effort? Is there a dependable method to fall asleep fast? And can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling better, rather than worse?
Exploring Your Reasons for Napping
“There are three main reasons for napping in the adult population,” notes a professor of circadian rhythm specialist. “One is known as recovery napping, which is what happens after experiencing insufficient sleep overnight. Another is preparatory napping, where you are pre-empting insufficient sleep ahead, for instance if you’re working overnight shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which basically boils down to desire: you get a moment to sleep during the day, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The primary task to do, so, is to examine your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep gets interrupted due to causes outside your control – such as, when you are a new parent, or recovering from illness or heavy physical exertion,” states a sleep specialist. “However, if you nap as your nighttime sleep is unstable or unreliable, that’s often a sign your sleep drive is not at the level it needs to be. Under those circumstances, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the focus must always be a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This means that naps shouldn’t be long enough to affect your overnight rest, and best should not occur in the late afternoon (contingent on when you sleep in the evening). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most referenced research about napping, researchers at Nasa found that astronauts showed up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% increase in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this involved a six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – most people are asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a specialist. “There is plenty of advice around concerning the perfect length for sleeping, but that tends to cause people to feel more worried than anything – and the worst thing one can do when attempting to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, avoid the 45-60 minute window that encourages sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “Studies would say it’s better to opt for a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the professor. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to send you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel groggy upon awakening – however, if you take it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to be completing a full cycle and will probably awaken feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you're dozing for an hour and a half, it may impact your sleep that night.”
Creating the Perfect Nap Environment
As for exact methodologies, recommendations vary. Certain specialists propose adopting comparable habits you use to promote restful sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and as much darkness as possible. Some advise that it's fine to merely snooze on the sofa with ambient lighting is present – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the environment your brain links with proper sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to command,” says a sleep coach. “Without any sleepiness, it is tougher to lie down and basically instruct yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some drive there to initiate sleep in the first place. For me, it's possible to snooze in broad daylight and wake up naturally without a timer, though, what aids most folks is to wait for a time that they’re naturally slightly tired and calmly relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if you have few options – such as, if attempting to fit in 40 winks during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable with bringing some accessories. “In my work with footballers, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will
