Listen to a few productivity experts, and you'll be tempting to think that napping is a superpower: more than a band-aid following restless night, but a route towards a better memory, a brighter outlook and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Professional athletes do it regularly – and so are professional piano players, UFC champions & high-profile executives. But if you don't have a dedicated nap-room or a job that permits daytime sleep, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the hassle? Can you find a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you honestly promise you will arise feeling better, instead of groggy?
Identifying Your Drive to Snooze
“There are three main reasons for daytime sleep for many people,” says a leading circadian rhythm specialist. “One is termed recovery napping, which is what you do when you’ve had poor sleep overnight. Another is prophylactic napping, where you are anticipating insufficient sleep in the future, such as if you’re working overnight shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which simply boils down to the wish: there is an opportunity to doze in the afternoon, and it feels nice to do it.”
The first thing to do, so, is consider why you want to nap. “Naps can be really helpful when nighttime sleep is disturbed because of factors outside your control – for instance, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep specialist. “But if you nap because your sleep at night feels fragile or unreliable, that can be a sign your body's sleep pressure is not where it needs to be. In those cases, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, instead of the fix. Use napping as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the priority should still be a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Perfect Nap Length
Therefore that napping shouldn’t be long enough to disrupt your sleep at night, and ideally should not occur post-3 p.m. (depending on what time you retire overnight). How long is sensible? Advice differs. From the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, experts discovered that crew members had up to a 54% increase in alertness and a 34% increase in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this involved a six-minute long sleep onset time). “My advice is setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority doze off within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “There is plenty of recommendations concerning the ideal number of minutes, but that tends to lead individuals to become more worried above all – and the worst thing you can do when trying to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces that sluggish feeling, that foggy state upon waking. “Studies suggests it's more effective to opt for an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” says the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is enough time to send you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel disoriented upon awakening – whereas if you nap for a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and should wake up feeling more refreshed. Though if you nap for 90 minutes, it may impact your sleep that night.”
Establishing an Ideal Sleep Space
As for precise methods, suggestions are diverse. Certain specialists propose adopting similar routines one would use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and as much darkness as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that one could simply nap on a couch in whatever light is present – to avoid sleep inertia and to maintain your bed as the space your mind associates with nighttime rest. “Napping is notoriously difficult to force,” says an expert. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to recline and essentially tell yourself to go to sleep. You need a natural inclination there to bring the sleep on initially. I can usually take a nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally without an alarm, but what helps a lot of people is to wait for a time when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and calmly relax into it.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if your choices are limited – such as, when aiming to grab 40 winks while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable to employ sleep aids. “In my work with elite athletes, I suggest that they not rely on napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will
