Tune into plenty of performance podcasters, and you'll be tempting to convince yourself that napping is a powerful tool: rather than a sticking plaster following a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut to improved recall, better spirits and maybe quicker running times. Premier League athletes are all at it – and so are musicians, fighters and high-profile executives. Yet, when you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or employment that encourages frequent naps, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a quick nap to justify the hassle? Is there a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Understanding Your Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three key drivers for daytime sleep in the adult population,” explains an expert sleep science researcher. “One is known as recovery napping, which is what happens after experiencing insufficient sleep the previous night. The second is preparatory napping, which involves anticipating insufficient sleep ahead, such as if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which essentially is about desire: you get an opportunity to nap during the day, and it feels nice to nap.”
The primary task to do, so, is to think about why you want to nap. “Napping can be truly beneficial when night sleeping is disturbed due to causes outside your control – for instance, if you’re a new parent, or if you are healing from illness or intense exercise,” explains a sleep expert. “However, if you nap because your night sleep is unstable or unreliable, that can be an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not at the level required. Under those circumstances, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the main goal ought to remain a solid and consistent sleep at night.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
This means that naps must not be sufficiently lengthy to affect your nighttime sleep, and ideally should not occur after about 3pm (based on what time you sleep overnight). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. Among the most-cited studies about napping, researchers at Nasa noted that crew members had improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% boost in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this involved a six-minute sleep onset time). “I’d suggest setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – many individuals fall asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “There is plenty of recommendations regarding the ideal number of time, but that tends to lead individuals to become more anxious than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing you can possibly do when trying to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to sleep for longer, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that induces sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Studies suggests it is preferable to have a lengthier snooze of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” explains the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to send you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented when you wake up – while if you extend it slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to finish a full cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more rejuvenated. But if you're dozing for a long period, it will affect your sleep later that night.”
Creating the Right Snooze Setting
As for specific techniques, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals suggest using the same protocol you use to promote quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as you can manage. Others suggest that one could simply nap on a couch in whatever light happens to be around – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bedroom as the environment you associate with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to command,” notes an expert. “Lacking the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to get comfortable and practically instruct yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some drive there to initiate sleep to begin with. Personally, I can often nap in full light and wake up naturally without an alarm, however, what assists most folks is to look for a time that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and calmly relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when you have few options – for instance, when aiming to squeeze in 40 winks on a train or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable to employ some accessories. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
