Hear enough productivity podcasters, making it tempting to think that a nap is a superpower: rather than a band-aid following poor sleep, but a shortcut towards a better memory, a brighter outlook and possibly a faster 5k run time. Elite footballers are all at it – along with musicians, UFC champions & media moguls. However, if you haven’t got a room for napping or a job that allows frequent naps, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a short sleep to justify the effort? Does there exist a reliable way to nod off promptly? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you will get up feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Understanding The Drive to Snooze
“There are three primary motivations for taking a nap for many people,” says a leading sleep science researcher. “The first is what we call compensatory napping, essentially what happens following insufficient sleep the previous night. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, which involves anticipating a sleep deficit coming up, for instance if you’re working graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which essentially comes down to wanting: there is a chance to doze during the day, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The initial step to consider, therefore, is to think about why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted for reasons outside your control – such as, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from sickness or intense exercise,” states a sleep physiologist. “But if you take a nap since your nighttime sleep is unstable or broken, that is frequently a signal your sleep drive is not as strong as it needs to be. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into a contributing factor, instead of the fix. Employ naps as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the priority should still be a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Perfect Nap Duration
This implies that naps shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and ideally are not recommended in the late afternoon (based on when you sleep in the evening). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most referenced research about napping, space agency scientists discovered that astronauts experienced improvements of over 50% in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this counted a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “My advice is using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals fall asleep in under ten minutes,” explains a sleep coach. “You'll find much advice around regarding the optimal amount of time, but that tends to cause people to feel more stressed than anything else – and the worst thing you can possibly do while aiming to nod off is worry about it.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, avoid the 45-60 minute window that encourages sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “Research would say it is preferable to have an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is sufficient to send you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented when you get up – whereas if you take it a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to finish of a sleep cycle and should awaken feeling more refreshed. However, if you're dozing for a long period, it will affect your sleep in the evening.”
Creating the Perfect Sleep Space
Regarding precise methods, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals suggest adopting comparable habits you use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as is feasible. Alternatively, experts propose that you should just doze on a couch in the existing light is available – to avoid sleep inertia and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the space you associate with *real* sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to force,” notes a sleep coach. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and basically tell yourself to fall asleep. You need a natural inclination available to bring the sleep on to begin with. Personally, I can often nap in broad daylight and awaken on my own without an alarm, however, what assists many individuals is to anticipate an instance where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should you have few options – for instance, if attempting to squeeze in 40 winks during a commute or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine to employ sleep aids. “In my work with elite athletes, I suggest that they don’t get used to napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will
