Hear enough productivity podcasters, and you'll be easy to convince yourself that napping is a powerful tool: not just a sticking plaster following restless night, but a path towards enhanced cognition, better spirits and maybe quicker running times. Premier League athletes do it regularly – as do concert pianists, fighters and media moguls. However, if you lack a room for napping or a job that permits daytime sleep, is it *truly* enough benefits to a short sleep for it to be worth the hassle? Can you find a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you will arise feeling improved, rather than worse?
Understanding The Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three main reasons for napping for many people,” notes an expert circadian rhythm professor. “The first is known as compensatory napping, essentially what you do after experiencing a lack of sleep overnight. Another is pre-emptive sleep, where you are anticipating a sleep deficit ahead, such as if you’re working on night shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which simply is about desire: you get an opportunity to nap during the day, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The initial step to do, therefore, is consider your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when overnight rest gets interrupted due to causes outside your control – for instance, for a parent of a newborn, or recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep expert. “But if you take a nap as your sleep at night seems unreliable or broken, that’s often a sign your sleep drive is not as strong as it needs to be. Under those circumstances, napping can become part of the problem, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the focus ought to remain a robust and regular night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Nap Duration
This implies that daytime sleep must not be sufficiently lengthy to affect your sleep at night, and ideally are not recommended post-3 p.m. (based on what time you go to bed overnight). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. Among a prominent study about napping, space agency scientists discovered that astronauts had a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness and a 34% boost in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this counted a six-minute long nodding-off period). “My advice is using an alarm for half an hour or less – most people are asleep in under ten minutes,” says a specialist. “You'll find much recommendations concerning the ideal number of time, yet that often make people feel more worried than anything – and the most counterproductive thing you can possibly do when attempting to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “Studies suggests it is preferable to take an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” notes the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to put you into deep sleep and you’re more likely to feel sluggish when you get up – whereas if you extend it a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to finish a full cycle and should get up feeling more rejuvenated. But if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it may impact the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Finding the Right Sleep Space
Regarding precise methods, advice differs. A few professionals propose adopting similar routines you’d use to encourage restful sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Some advise that one could merely snooze in a chair in whatever light is available – to prevent that groggy feeling and to maintain your bed as the space your brain links with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to will,” notes an expert. “Lacking the urge to sleep, it is tougher to recline and practically command yourself to nod off. There must be some sleep pressure present to initiate sleep to begin with. Personally, I can often snooze in broad daylight and naturally wake up without a timer, but what helps many individuals is to wait for a time where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if you have few options – for instance, if you’re trying to squeeze in 40 winks while traveling or in a work pod – it's acceptable to employ some accessories. “In my work with footballers, I recommend that they don’t get used to napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will
