Hear enough performance gurus, and it’s tempting to believe that napping is a secret weapon: rather than a band-aid following a bad night’s sleep, but a path towards improved recall, a brighter outlook and perhaps improved athletic performance. Elite athletes swear by it – along with professional piano players, UFC champions & high-profile executives. But if you don't have a room for napping or a job that permits regular snoozing, is it *truly* enough benefits to a short sleep for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Is there a reliable way to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling better, rather than worse?
Understanding The Nap Motivation
“We can identify three key drivers for daytime sleep among most adults,” notes an expert sleep science specialist. “One is what we call make-up sleep, essentially what you do after experiencing poor sleep the previous night. Another is pre-emptive sleep, which involves preparing for insufficient sleep in the future, such as if you’re working on night shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which essentially boils down to the wish: there is a chance to sleep in the afternoon, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The initial step to do, then, is to think about your nap motivation. “Naps can be genuinely useful when overnight rest is being disrupted for reasons beyond your control – such as, when you are caring for an infant, or if you are healing from sickness or intense exercise,” explains a sleep physiologist. “But if you take a nap since your sleep at night feels fragile or broken, that’s often a signal your sleep drive is not where it needs to be. In those cases, napping can become part of the issue, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the main goal must always be a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Optimal Snooze Time
This means that napping shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your sleep at night, and best shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (based on the time you go to bed at night). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. In one of a prominent study regarding daytime sleep, experts discovered that space travelers had a boost of up to 54% in vigilance and a 34% boost in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this included an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals doze off quickly,” explains a specialist. “You'll find much recommendations concerning the optimal amount for sleeping, however, that can lead individuals to become more anxious than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing you can possibly do while aiming to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages sleep inertia, that foggy state when you wake. “Research would say it’s better to have a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours rather than a mid-length nap,” says the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is enough time to put you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented when you get up – while if you nap for a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be completing a natural sleep cycle and will probably get up feeling more refreshed. But if you nap for an hour and a half, it may impact the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Creating the Perfect Nap Environment
As for exact methodologies, advice differs. Some experts propose using the same protocol one would use to promote quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that one could just doze in a chair in the existing light is available – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to “protect” your bedroom as the space your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to will,” notes a sleep coach. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is tougher to get comfortable and practically instruct yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination present to initiate sleep to begin with. I can usually nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally without a timer, but what helps most folks is to look for a moment when they are naturally slightly tired and calmly ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and should options are scarce – for instance, when aiming to squeeze in 40 winks during a commute or at the office – it's acceptable to employ sleep aids. “When I’m working with footballers, I suggest that they not rely on their own bed for naps, as they’re going to have|they will
