Hear a few self-improvement gurus, and it’s tempting to think that napping is a superpower: not just a sticking plaster after a bad night’s sleep, but a route to a better memory, a brighter outlook and perhaps quicker running times. Elite footballers are all at it – and so are professional piano players, UFC champions & media moguls. However, if you haven’t got a special sleep space or a job that permits frequent naps, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye to merit the hassle? Does there exist a reliable way to nod off promptly? And can you really guarantee you will arise feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Understanding The Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three primary motivations for taking a nap for many people,” explains an expert sleep science specialist. “One is known as compensatory napping, that is the action you take following poor sleep the night before. Another is preparatory napping, where you are pre-empting sleep loss coming up, for instance during on night shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply boils down to desire: you have a moment to nap in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The primary task to consider, so, is to think about why you want to nap. “Naps can be genuinely useful when overnight rest gets interrupted for reasons you cannot change – for instance, when you are a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from sickness or intense exercise,” says a sleep specialist. “But if you take a nap since your nighttime sleep is unstable or unreliable, that can be a signal your sleep drive is not where required. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into a contributing factor, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the main goal should still be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This means that naps must not be long enough to affect your sleep at night, and ideally are not recommended in the late afternoon (depending on what time you retire overnight). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. From the most-cited studies about napping, space agency scientists noted that crew members had improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% boost in task performance after a 26-minute nap (technically, this included a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “My advice is setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – many individuals doze off in under ten minutes,” explains a specialist. “There is plenty of guidance out there concerning the perfect length of minutes, yet that often lead individuals to become more stressed than anything else – and the worst thing you can do when attempting to nod off is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep inertia, that foggy state when you awaken. “The science indicates it’s better to take a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” says the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is long enough to send you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel groggy upon awakening – whereas if you take it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to be completing a natural sleep cycle and should get up feeling more refreshed. However, if you nap for 90 minutes, it may impact the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Creating the Right Nap Environment
As for precise methods, recommendations vary. A few professionals recommend adopting comparable habits you’d use to promote quality nighttime sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and maximum darkness as possible. Some advise that one could simply nap in a chair in whatever light is present – to prevent that groggy feeling and to “protect” your bedroom as the space your brain links with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to force,” explains an expert. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to recline and basically command yourself to go to sleep. You need some sleep pressure available to bring the sleep on initially. For me, it's possible to nap in full light and naturally wake up alarm-free, however, what assists a lot of people is to anticipate a time that they’re naturally slightly tired and then simply relax into it.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when options are scarce – for instance, if attempting to fit in some shut-eye while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine to employ a few tools. “Coaching elite athletes, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to sleeping in their bed, as they’re going to have|they will
