Listen to a few self-improvement podcasters, and it’s simple to believe that napping is a powerful tool: not just a band-aid following a bad night’s sleep, but a path towards enhanced cognition, improved mood and possibly a faster 5k run time. Professional athletes do it regularly – along with professional piano players, mixed martial artists and media moguls. However, if you don't have a dedicated nap-room or a career that encourages daytime sleep, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a quick nap to merit the hassle? Is there a dependable method to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you will get up feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Exploring The Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three primary motivations for napping in the adult population,” explains an expert sleep science professor. “The first is what we call make-up sleep, which is what happens after experiencing poor sleep overnight. Another is preparatory napping, which involves preparing for sleep loss ahead, for example during on night shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply boils down to wanting: you get a chance to nap in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to indulge.”
The initial step to do, so, is to examine your reason for napping. “Napping can be really helpful when night sleeping is disturbed because of factors beyond your control – such as, when you are a new parent, or if you are healing from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” states a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you take a nap because your night sleep feels fragile or poor, that is frequently a signal your sleep drive is not where it should be. Under those circumstances, napping can become a contributing factor, instead of the fix. Employ naps as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the focus ought to remain a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This means that napping must not be long enough to disrupt your sleep at night, and best should not occur after about 3pm (contingent on when you sleep overnight). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. From a prominent study about napping, space agency scientists found that astronauts experienced up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% increase in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this involved an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – many individuals are asleep within 10 minutes,” explains a sleep coach. “There is plenty of guidance out there about the perfect length of minutes, however, that can cause people to feel more stressed than anything else – and the least helpful action one can do when trying to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to nap for a longer period, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “Research suggests it is preferable to take an extended nap of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” notes the expert. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to plunge you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel disoriented when you wake up – however, if you extend it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be completing a full cycle and will probably wake up feeling more refreshed. Though if you're dozing for a long period, it can influence the quality of your sleep that night.”
Establishing an Ideal Nap Environment
Regarding specific techniques, recommendations vary. A few professionals recommend using similar routines you use to promote quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and minimal light as possible. Some advise that it's fine to simply nap on a couch with ambient lighting is available – to avoid that groggy feeling and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the space your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Napping is quite challenging to force,” explains a sleep coach. “Without the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to get comfortable and essentially instruct yourself to nod off. There must be some drive there to start the process initially. I can usually nap during the day and wake up naturally without a timer, though, what aids many individuals is to look for an instance that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and should your choices are limited – for instance, when aiming to fit in some shut-eye on a train or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine with bringing some accessories. “In my work with elite athletes, I suggest that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, as they’re going to have|they will
