Hear enough performance experts, and it’s tempting to think that dozing is a superpower: not just a sticking plaster following restless night, but a path towards improved recall, improved mood and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Professional footballers are all at it – and so are musicians, UFC champions & business leaders. However, if you don't have a special sleep space or a career that permits frequent naps, are there *really* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye to merit the hassle? Does there exist a reliable way to nod off promptly? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Exploring Your Reasons for Napping
“We can identify three primary motivations for daytime sleep in the adult population,” explains a professor of sleep science specialist. “Firstly, there's known as make-up sleep, that is what happens following insufficient sleep overnight. The second is preparatory napping, which involves pre-empting sleep loss coming up, for instance during on night shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically comes down to wanting: there is an opportunity to nap in the daytime, and it feels nice to nap.”
The initial step to undertake, then, is consider why you want to nap. “Naps can be truly beneficial when overnight rest is being disrupted due to causes beyond your control – for instance, for caring for an infant, or recovering from illness or intense exercise,” says a sleep physiologist. “But if you’re napping as your sleep at night feels fragile or broken, that is frequently a sign your need for sleep is not where it needs to be. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the problem, not the solution. Employ naps as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the focus should still be a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Perfect Nap Length
This implies that daytime sleep ought not to be too extended to affect your overnight rest, and ideally shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (contingent on when you retire in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most referenced research about napping, space agency scientists noted that crew members experienced up to a 54% increase in alertness plus a 34% rise in performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this involved an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “I recommend setting an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals doze off quickly,” says a sleep expert. “There is plenty of advice around concerning the ideal number for sleeping, yet that often make people feel more worried above all – and the most counterproductive thing you can do while aiming to nod off is to be anxious.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, bypass the 45-60 minute window that encourages sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “Studies suggests it is preferable to take an extended nap of one to one and a half hours compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the sleep scientist. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to put you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel disoriented when you wake up – while if you nap for a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing a full cycle and are likely to get up feeling more alert. But if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it will affect your sleep later that night.”
Finding an Ideal Snooze Setting
When it comes to specific techniques, advice differs. Certain specialists recommend employing the same protocol you’d use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as you can manage. Others suggest that one could simply nap on a couch in whatever light is present – to avoid sleep inertia and to preserve your bedroom as the space your brain links with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to command,” says a sleep coach. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it is tougher to lie down and basically instruct yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination present to bring the sleep on in the first place. For me, it's possible to nap during the day and awaken on my own without an alarm, but what helps many individuals is to wait for an instance where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly ease into sleep.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and should options are scarce – for instance, when aiming to grab a quick nap on a train or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine to employ a few tools. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I suggest that they don’t get used to napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
