Hear plenty of performance podcasters, making it easy to convince yourself that a nap is a superpower: more than a quick fix after poor sleep, but a shortcut to improved recall, a brighter outlook and maybe a faster 5k run time. Premier League athletes do it regularly – as do concert pianists, mixed martial artists and business leaders. However, if you don't have a room for napping or a career that permits daytime sleep, is it *truly* enough benefits to a short sleep to merit the hassle? Can you find a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? And can you honestly promise you will arise feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Exploring The Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three key drivers for taking a nap in the adult population,” explains a professor of sleep and circadian science specialist. “Firstly, there's termed compensatory napping, which is what you do when you’ve had poor sleep the night before. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, where you are pre-empting insufficient sleep coming up, for instance if you’re working graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically boils down to wanting: you have a chance to doze in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to nap.”
The initial step to undertake, therefore, is consider why you want to nap. “Napping can be truly beneficial when overnight rest is disturbed because of factors you cannot change – for example, for a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” states a sleep physiologist. “However, if you take a nap since your sleep at night is unstable or unreliable, that is frequently a signal your need for sleep is not where it needs to be. In such situations, napping can become part of the issue, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the focus should still be a strong and predictable sleep at night.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
This implies that daytime sleep shouldn’t be too extended to affect your nighttime sleep, and preferably should not occur post-3 p.m. (depending on what time you go to bed in the evening). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most-cited studies about napping, experts discovered that space travelers had a boost of up to 54% in vigilance plus a 34% rise in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this involved a six-minute long sleep onset time). “I’d suggest using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals are asleep quickly,” notes a sleep expert. “There is plenty of guidance out there regarding the ideal number of minutes, however, that can make people feel more stressed than anything – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when trying to fall asleep is worry about it.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “Research indicates it’s better to have an extended nap of one to one and a half hours compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is sufficient to plunge you into deep sleep and you’re more likely to feel sluggish when you wake up – while if you extend it a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing a full cycle and should awaken feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you're dozing for a long period, it will affect the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Finding the Perfect Sleep Space
When it comes to precise methods, advice differs. Some experts suggest using comparable habits you’d use to encourage restful sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and minimal light as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to just doze on the sofa in the existing light is available – to prevent sleep inertia and to maintain your bedroom as the space your mind associates with nighttime rest. “Napping is something really tricky to will,” notes a sleep coach. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to lie down and practically command yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination there to initiate sleep to begin with. Personally, I can often take a nap in broad daylight and awaken on my own alarm-free, but what helps most folks is to wait for a time when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and when you have few options – for instance, if you’re trying to grab some shut-eye during a commute or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine to employ sleep aids. “Coaching elite athletes, I advise that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
