Listen to a few productivity podcasters, and you'll be simple to convince yourself that dozing is a superpower: rather than a quick fix following restless night, but a shortcut towards a better memory, a brighter outlook and maybe a faster 5k run time. Premier League soccer players are all at it – and so are musicians, UFC champions & high-profile executives. However, if you lack a dedicated nap-room or a career that allows regular snoozing, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye to justify the kerfuffle? Does there exist a surefire technique to nod off promptly? And can you honestly promise you will arise feeling better, rather than worse?
Understanding Your Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three key drivers for napping for many people,” notes a professor of sleep and circadian science specialist. “The first is termed compensatory napping, which is what you do after experiencing a lack of sleep the night before. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, which involves pre-empting insufficient sleep coming up, for instance if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which basically is about wanting: you have an opportunity to doze in the daytime, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The first thing to consider, therefore, is consider your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep is being disrupted because of factors you cannot change – for example, for a new parent, or recovering from illness or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep expert. “However, if you nap as your nighttime sleep is unstable or unreliable, that’s often a signal your need for sleep is not as strong as required. In such situations, napping can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Use napping as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the main goal must always be a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
Therefore that naps shouldn’t be long enough to affect your overnight rest, and preferably shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (contingent on when you retire at night). How long is sensible? Advice differs. From a prominent study on the subject, researchers at Nasa discovered that crew members had up to a 54% increase in vigilance plus a 34% rise in task performance after a 26-minute nap (technically, this counted an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “My advice is setting an alarm for half an hour or less – the majority doze off quickly,” notes a sleep coach. “There is plenty of advice around about the perfect length of minutes, but that tends to cause people to feel more stressed than anything else – and the worst thing one can do while aiming to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that promotes that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “The science suggests it's more effective to opt for a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the expert. “45 minutes is long enough to send you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel groggy upon awakening – however, if you extend it slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be on the end a full cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more alert. But if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it may impact your sleep later that night.”
Finding the Perfect Snooze Setting
Regarding specific techniques, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals propose using the same protocol you’d use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a cozy bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that you should simply nap in a chair in the existing light is available – both to discourage sleep inertia and to preserve your bedroom as the space you associate with *real* sleep. “Napping is something really tricky to force,” notes an expert. “Lacking the urge to sleep, it is tougher to get comfortable and essentially tell yourself to go to sleep. There must be a natural inclination present to initiate sleep to begin with. I can usually snooze during the day and wake up naturally alarm-free, however, what assists a lot of people is to look for a time where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently relax into it.”
Experimentation is key, and should options are scarce – for instance, when aiming to fit in a quick nap while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable to use some accessories. “When I’m working with professional sportspeople, I suggest that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will