Listen to plenty of productivity gurus, and it’s tempting to convince yourself that dozing is a secret weapon: more than a sticking plaster following poor sleep, but a route to improved recall, better spirits and maybe a faster 5k run time. Elite athletes do it regularly – along with professional piano players, mixed martial artists and high-profile executives. Yet, when you haven’t got a room for napping or employment that allows regular snoozing, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye to justify the kerfuffle? Does there exist a reliable way to fall asleep fast? And can you really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Exploring Your Drive to Snooze
“There are three main reasons for daytime sleep for many people,” notes an expert sleep science professor. “One is what we call make-up sleep, essentially the action you take following poor sleep the night before. Another is pre-emptive sleep, where you are pre-empting a sleep deficit in the future, for example if you’re working overnight shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply comes down to wanting: there is a chance to doze during the day, and it feels nice to do it.”
The first thing to do, so, is consider your reason for napping. “Napping can be really helpful when night sleeping is being disrupted for reasons you cannot change – such as, if you’re a new parent, or recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” says a sleep specialist. “However, if you nap because your sleep at night seems unreliable or unreliable, that’s often a sign your sleep drive is not as strong as required. In those cases, napping can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Use napping as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the priority ought to remain a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This means that daytime sleep must not be sufficiently lengthy to affect your overnight rest, and ideally are not recommended in the late afternoon (based on what time you retire at night). What duration is wise? Recommendations vary. From the most-cited studies about napping, researchers at Nasa discovered that astronauts showed up to a 54% increase in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this involved a six-minute nodding-off period). “My advice is using an alarm for half an hour or less – the majority are asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep coach. “There is plenty of advice around regarding the optimal amount of minutes, however, that can cause people to feel more worried than anything – and the least helpful action you can do while aiming to nod off is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Research indicates it’s better to take a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” says the expert. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to send you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel sluggish when you get up – whereas if you nap for slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be on the end of a sleep cycle and should awaken feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it can influence the quality of your sleep that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Sleep Space
When it comes to precise methods, recommendations vary. Certain specialists suggest employing the same protocol you’d use to promote restful sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as you can manage. Some advise that one could simply nap on the sofa with ambient lighting happens to be around – to prevent that groggy feeling and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the place your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to will,” notes an expert. “Lacking any sleepiness, it is tougher to lie down and practically instruct yourself to nod off. There must be a natural inclination present to bring the sleep on initially. I can usually snooze in full light and wake up naturally without a timer, but what helps many individuals is to anticipate an instance that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should your choices are limited – for instance, if attempting to fit in a quick nap during a commute or in a work pod – it's acceptable with bringing some accessories. “In my work with footballers, I suggest that they don’t get used to napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will
