Tune into plenty of productivity podcasters, making it easy to convince yourself that a nap is a secret weapon: rather than a quick fix following a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut to enhanced cognition, a brighter outlook and perhaps improved athletic performance. Professional athletes are all at it – as do professional piano players, fighters and business leaders. Yet, when you don't have a special sleep space or a career that permits frequent naps, are there *really* sufficient advantages to a quick nap to justify the hassle? Does there exist a dependable method to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you will get up feeling improved, not worse?
Identifying Your Nap Motivation
“Experts note three primary motivations for taking a nap in the adult population,” notes a leading sleep and circadian science professor. “The first is termed compensatory napping, essentially the action you take when you’ve had poor sleep the night before. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, where you are pre-empting insufficient sleep coming up, for example during graveyard shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which essentially comes down to wanting: you get an opportunity to sleep in the daytime, and it feels nice to nap.”
The first thing to undertake, therefore, is to think about your nap motivation. “Napping can be really helpful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted for reasons outside your control – such as, when you are a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from illness or intense exercise,” says a sleep specialist. “However, if you take a nap since your sleep at night is unstable or broken, that’s often an indicator your need for sleep is not where it needs to be. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the problem, instead of the fix. Use napping for brief periods to address immediate needs – the main goal should still be a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
Therefore that napping must not be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your overnight rest, and preferably should not occur after about 3pm (depending on the time you sleep overnight). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most referenced research about napping, space agency scientists discovered that crew members experienced a boost of up to 54% in vigilance and a 34% increase in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this involved a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – most people doze off quickly,” explains a specialist. “There’s a lot of advice around concerning the perfect length of minutes, yet that often cause people to feel more stressed above all – and the worst thing you can possibly do when trying to fall asleep is worry about it.”
If you plan to sleep for longer, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “Studies suggests it’s better to opt for an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” notes the expert. “45 minutes is long enough to put you into deep sleep and you’re more likely to feel sluggish when you get up – whereas if you nap for slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and should get up feeling more rejuvenated. But if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it will affect the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Creating an Ideal Nap Environment
As for exact methodologies, advice differs. Some experts recommend adopting similar routines you use to promote quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and as much darkness as you can manage. Others suggest that one could simply nap in a chair in whatever light happens to be around – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to “protect” your bedroom as the space your brain links with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to command,” explains a specialist. “Without any drowsiness, it is more challenging to lie down and practically tell yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some sleep pressure present to bring the sleep on in the first place. Personally, I can often snooze in broad daylight and naturally wake up without an alarm, however, what assists many individuals is to anticipate a moment that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently ease into sleep.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if your choices are limited – for instance, when aiming to grab a quick nap while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable to employ a few tools. “Coaching elite athletes, I advise that they not rely on their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
