Hear enough productivity gurus, and you'll be tempting to convince yourself that napping is a secret weapon: more than a band-aid following restless night, but a path to improved recall, better spirits and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Professional footballers are all at it – along with concert pianists, mixed martial artists & high-profile executives. But if you haven’t got a special sleep space or employment that allows frequent naps, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a quick nap to justify the kerfuffle? Does there exist a surefire technique to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling better, instead of groggy?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“We can identify three key drivers for napping in the adult population,” notes a professor of sleep science researcher. “Firstly, there's termed compensatory napping, essentially what you do when you’ve had insufficient sleep the previous night. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, when you are preparing for sleep loss coming up, such as when working overnight shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which basically comes down to the wish: you have a moment to doze in the afternoon, and it feels nice to do it.”
The initial step to undertake, then, is to think about your nap motivation. “Naps can be really helpful when nighttime sleep is disturbed for reasons outside your control – for instance, when you are a parent of a newborn, or recovering after being ill or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you’re napping as your sleep at night is unstable or unreliable, that’s often a sign your body's sleep pressure is not where it needs to be. In such situations, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the main goal ought to remain a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This means that naps must not be long enough to affect your sleep at night, and ideally should not occur in the late afternoon (based on when you retire at night). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most referenced research on the subject, researchers at Nasa noted that crew members showed a boost of up to 54% in alertness and a 34% increase in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (in detail, this involved a six-minute nodding-off period). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority fall asleep within 10 minutes,” says a sleep expert. “There is plenty of guidance out there about the perfect length for sleeping, but that tends to cause people to feel more anxious than anything else – and the least helpful action you can possibly do when attempting to fall asleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep inertia, that foggy state when you wake. “Research indicates it is preferable to take a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” says the expert. “45 minutes is long enough to put you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel disoriented when you get up – however, if you take it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to finish of a sleep cycle and will probably wake up feeling more alert. However, if you’re sleeping for a long period, it may impact the quality of your sleep that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Sleep Space
When it comes to specific techniques, recommendations vary. Certain specialists propose using the same protocol one would use to encourage restful sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and minimal light as you can manage. Some advise that it's fine to merely snooze on the sofa in whatever light is available – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the space you associate with proper sleep. “Napping is something really tricky to force,” explains a sleep coach. “Lacking any sleepiness, it is tougher to recline and essentially command yourself to nod off. There must be some sleep pressure there to bring the sleep on in the first place. Personally, I can often nap during the day and naturally wake up without an alarm, however, what assists most folks is to look for a time where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and when options are scarce – such as, when aiming to fit in a quick nap on a train or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable to use a few tools. “In my work with elite athletes, I recommend that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, as they’re going to have|they will
