Hear enough performance gurus, making it tempting to believe that napping is a powerful tool: not just a quick fix after poor sleep, but a path towards improved recall, better spirits and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Professional soccer players do it regularly – along with concert pianists, fighters & media moguls. But if you lack a room for napping or a career that permits daytime sleep, are there *really* sufficient advantages to a quick nap for it to be worth the hassle? Does there exist a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling improved, not worse?
Understanding The Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three primary motivations for daytime sleep for many people,” says a professor of sleep science specialist. “One is termed recovery napping, that is what happens after experiencing poor sleep overnight. Another is prophylactic napping, when you are pre-empting sleep loss ahead, for instance when working on night shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply boils down to the wish: there is an opportunity to sleep during the day, and it's pleasant to indulge.”
The initial step to do, then, is to think about your nap motivation. “Naps can be genuinely useful when night sleeping is being disrupted for reasons beyond your control – such as, when you are a parent of a newborn, or recovering after being ill or intense exercise,” states a sleep expert. “Yet when you nap because your sleep at night feels fragile or unreliable, that can be a signal your body's sleep pressure is not where it should be. In such situations, naps can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the focus must always be a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Perfect Nap Length
This means that naps shouldn’t be long enough to interfere with your overnight rest, and ideally shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (contingent on the time you go to bed overnight). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most referenced research about napping, space agency scientists found that space travelers experienced improvements of over 50% in attentiveness and a 34% boost in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this counted an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – the majority doze off in under ten minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “You'll find much guidance out there about the perfect length for sleeping, but that tends to lead individuals to become more worried than anything – and the least helpful action you can possibly do when trying to fall asleep is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, avoid the 45-60 minute window that induces sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling when you awaken. “The science suggests it’s better to take a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the sleep scientist. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to put you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel disoriented when you wake up – however, if you extend it slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to finish a natural sleep cycle and will probably get up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you’re sleeping for a long period, it will affect how you sleep that night.”
Establishing the Perfect Sleep Space
Regarding exact methodologies, recommendations vary. Certain specialists propose employing comparable habits you’d use to foster a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as possible. Some advise that it's fine to merely snooze on the sofa in the existing light is available – to prevent that groggy feeling and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the environment your brain links with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to force,” notes an expert. “Without any drowsiness, it becomes harder to recline and practically instruct yourself to nod off. You need some drive present to initiate sleep in the first place. For me, it's possible to take a nap during the day and awaken on my own alarm-free, however, what assists a lot of people is to wait for a time that they’re naturally slightly tired and just gently ease into sleep.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and should you have few options – such as, when aiming to squeeze in 40 winks on a train or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable to use sleep aids. “Coaching footballers, I recommend that they not rely on their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
