Listen to plenty of self-improvement podcasters, making it easy to convince yourself that dozing is a powerful tool: more than a sticking plaster following poor sleep, but a shortcut towards enhanced cognition, better spirits and perhaps quicker running times. Elite footballers are all at it – and so are musicians, mixed martial artists & media moguls. But if you lack a dedicated nap-room or employment that allows frequent naps, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the effort? Is there a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you will arise feeling improved, not worse?
Identifying Your Nap Motivation
“We can identify three key drivers for napping in the adult population,” explains an expert circadian rhythm researcher. “Firstly, there's known as compensatory napping, which is what happens after experiencing poor sleep the previous night. The second is preparatory napping, which involves pre-empting insufficient sleep ahead, for instance during graveyard shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which simply is about desire: you get a chance to sleep in the daytime, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The first thing to consider, therefore, is to think about your nap motivation. “Naps can be truly beneficial when overnight rest is disturbed because of factors beyond your control – for instance, when you are a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from illness or intense exercise,” states a sleep physiologist. “But if you nap as your night sleep feels fragile or unreliable, that’s often a sign your body's sleep pressure is not where it should be. In such situations, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Use napping as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the focus ought to remain a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
This implies that napping shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to disrupt your nighttime sleep, and ideally are not recommended in the late afternoon (contingent on what time you sleep in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. In one of the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa found that space travelers had improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% boost in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this involved a six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend setting a timer for half an hour or less – the majority doze off quickly,” says a specialist. “There’s a lot of recommendations about the perfect length for sleeping, but that tends to cause people to feel more stressed than anything else – and the least helpful action you can possibly do when trying to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to take an extended nap, steer clear of the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling when you awaken. “Research suggests it is preferable to opt for a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to send you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel groggy when you get up – while if you extend it a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be completing a natural sleep cycle and will probably wake up feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it will affect the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Creating the Perfect Nap Environment
As for exact methodologies, recommendations vary. Some experts propose adopting the same protocol one would use to promote restful sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as you can manage. Some advise that you should merely snooze on the sofa in whatever light is available – to prevent that groggy feeling and to maintain your bedroom as the space you associate with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to command,” explains a sleep coach. “Lacking any sleepiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and practically instruct yourself to fall asleep. There must be a natural inclination present to bring the sleep on to begin with. Personally, I can often nap in full light and wake up naturally without a timer, though, what aids most folks is to wait for a time that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when options are scarce – for instance, when aiming to grab a quick nap on a train or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine to employ sleep aids. “In my work with elite athletes, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
