Tune into plenty of performance gurus, and you'll be tempting to think that dozing is a secret weapon: more than a quick fix following restless night, but a shortcut towards a better memory, better spirits and possibly improved athletic performance. Premier League footballers swear by it – and so are concert pianists, UFC champions & media moguls. But if you don't have a room for napping or employment that allows frequent naps, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a quick nap to justify the kerfuffle? Is there a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you will arise feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Identifying The Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three main reasons for taking a nap in the adult population,” notes a leading circadian rhythm researcher. “Firstly, there's what we call compensatory napping, essentially what you do following poor sleep the night before. Another is pre-emptive sleep, which involves preparing for sleep loss ahead, such as when working graveyard shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which simply boils down to the wish: you get a chance to nap in the afternoon, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The initial step to consider, then, is to examine why you want to nap. “Napping can be truly beneficial when overnight rest is being disrupted because of factors you cannot change – for example, when you are caring for an infant, or if you are healing from illness or intense exercise,” says a sleep specialist. “But if you take a nap because your nighttime sleep feels fragile or unreliable, that is frequently a signal your need for sleep is not at the level it should be. In those cases, naps can become part of the issue, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the main goal ought to remain a robust and regular overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This means that daytime sleep must not be long enough to disrupt your overnight rest, and ideally are not recommended post-3 p.m. (depending on the time you retire overnight). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. In one of a prominent study on the subject, experts discovered that crew members showed improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% increase in performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this included a six-minute sleep onset time). “My advice is setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – most people doze off quickly,” explains a sleep expert. “There is plenty of advice around about the ideal number for sleeping, but that tends to cause people to feel more anxious above all – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when trying to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to nap for a longer period, bypass the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes that sluggish feeling, that foggy state when you awaken. “Studies would say it’s better to take a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” says the professor. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to plunge you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel groggy upon awakening – whereas if you nap for a bit longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing of a sleep cycle and will probably get up feeling more alert. However, if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it can influence how you sleep later that night.”
Finding the Right Nap Environment
When it comes to exact methodologies, advice differs. Some experts recommend employing similar routines one would use to promote quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as possible. Some advise that one could merely snooze in a chair with ambient lighting happens to be around – to prevent sleep inertia and to maintain your bed as the place you associate with proper sleep. “Sleep is something really tricky to force,” notes a specialist. “Lacking the urge to sleep, it is tougher to recline and basically command yourself to nod off. You need a natural inclination there to start the process to begin with. For me, it's possible to take a nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up without a timer, but what helps a lot of people is to anticipate a time where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if your choices are limited – such as, when aiming to fit in 40 winks during a commute or in a work pod – it's acceptable with bringing a few tools. “Coaching footballers, I advise that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
