Hear enough productivity podcasters, and it’s easy to convince yourself that dozing is a superpower: more than a quick fix after restless night, but a path towards a better memory, a brighter outlook and maybe a faster 5k run time. Professional soccer players do it regularly – along with concert pianists, mixed martial artists & high-profile executives. However, if you lack a special sleep space or a job that encourages frequent naps, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye to merit the hassle? Can you find a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you will arise feeling better, instead of groggy?
Identifying Your Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three primary motivations for daytime sleep among most adults,” explains an expert sleep and circadian science researcher. “One is known as recovery napping, essentially what happens when you’ve had poor sleep the night before. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, which involves anticipating insufficient sleep coming up, for example when working overnight shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which basically boils down to desire: you get a chance to nap in the afternoon, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The primary task to do, so, is to think about your reason for napping. “Naps can be really helpful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted because of factors outside your control – for example, when you are a new parent, or you’re recovering from sickness or intense exercise,” says a sleep specialist. “But if you’re napping because your nighttime sleep feels fragile or unreliable, that can be a signal your body's sleep pressure is not at the level required. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, instead of the fix. Employ naps for brief periods for short-term problems – the priority should still be a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This implies that naps shouldn’t be long enough to interfere with your sleep at night, and preferably shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (depending on what time you retire overnight). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. From the most referenced research about napping, researchers at Nasa found that space travelers showed improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% increase in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this counted a six-minute long sleep onset time). “My advice is using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority are asleep within 10 minutes,” explains a specialist. “There is plenty of guidance out there about the optimal amount of time, but that tends to cause people to feel more worried above all – and the least helpful action you can possibly do when attempting to nod off is to be anxious.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “The science indicates it is preferable to have a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to send you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel sluggish when you wake up – whereas if you extend it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing of a sleep cycle and should awaken feeling more refreshed. Though if you nap for 90 minutes, it will affect the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Creating the Right Sleep Space
Regarding specific techniques, advice differs. Some experts suggest using the same protocol you use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a cozy bed and minimal light as is feasible. Alternatively, experts propose that one could merely snooze on a couch in whatever light happens to be around – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the environment your brain links with *real* sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to will,” explains an expert. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it is tougher to recline and basically command yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some sleep pressure present to start the process to begin with. For me, it's possible to snooze in full light and awaken on my own without a timer, though, what aids a lot of people is to look for a moment where they feel naturally slightly tired and then simply allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should your choices are limited – for example, if attempting to grab a quick nap while traveling or at the office – there’s nothing wrong to employ sleep aids. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I recommend that they not rely on napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
