Hear plenty of performance podcasters, and you'll be easy to believe that a nap is a superpower: not just a quick fix after a bad night’s sleep, but a route to a better memory, better spirits and possibly improved athletic performance. Elite athletes are all at it – along with musicians, mixed martial artists & media moguls. But if you haven’t got a special sleep space or employment that allows frequent naps, are there *really* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye to justify the kerfuffle? Does there exist a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling better, instead of groggy?
Identifying The Nap Motivation
“There are three main reasons for daytime sleep for many people,” says an expert sleep and circadian science researcher. “Firstly, there's what we call recovery napping, which is what you do following a lack of sleep overnight. The second is pre-emptive sleep, which involves anticipating insufficient sleep in the future, such as during overnight shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which simply comes down to the wish: you get an opportunity to doze during the day, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The first thing to undertake, then, is consider why you want to nap. “Naps can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted due to causes beyond your control – for instance, for a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering from illness or strenuous activity,” says a sleep specialist. “However, if you’re napping because your sleep at night feels fragile or unreliable, that is frequently an indicator your need for sleep is not as strong as it needs to be. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Employ naps for brief periods for temporary issues – the priority should still be a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Optimal Snooze Time
This means that daytime sleep must not be too extended to disrupt your overnight rest, and best should not occur post-3 p.m. (based on when you sleep in the evening). What duration is wise? Advice differs. Among a prominent study on the subject, space agency scientists discovered that astronauts had improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% increase in performance after a 26-minute nap (in detail, this involved a six-minute nodding-off period). “My advice is setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – most people are asleep in under ten minutes,” explains a specialist. “There is plenty of guidance out there about the optimal amount of minutes, yet that often make people feel more worried than anything – and the worst thing you can possibly do while aiming to fall asleep is to be anxious.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Research would say it's more effective to opt for a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is sufficient to plunge you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel groggy when you wake up – while if you nap for a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing a full cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more refreshed. But if you nap for a long period, it may impact how you sleep later that night.”
Finding an Ideal Nap Environment
Regarding exact methodologies, recommendations vary. Certain specialists suggest using comparable habits one would use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that one could just doze on a couch in whatever light is present – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to maintain your bedroom as the place your mind associates with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to will,” notes a specialist. “Lacking any sleepiness, it is tougher to lie down and basically instruct yourself to fall asleep. You need some drive available to bring the sleep on to begin with. I can usually snooze in broad daylight and wake up naturally alarm-free, though, what aids a lot of people is to look for a time when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply relax into it.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and if your choices are limited – for example, when aiming to grab some shut-eye during a commute or in a work pod – it's acceptable to use some accessories. “Coaching footballers, I suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will
