Tune into a few productivity experts, and you'll be tempting to believe that dozing is a superpower: rather than a sticking plaster after a bad night’s sleep, but a path towards a better memory, improved mood and possibly a faster 5k run time. Professional soccer players swear by it – and so are professional piano players, mixed martial artists and media moguls. But if you don't have a special sleep space or a job that allows daytime sleep, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye to merit the kerfuffle? Is there a dependable method to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you will get up feeling better, rather than worse?
Identifying Your Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three key drivers for daytime sleep among most adults,” says a leading circadian rhythm researcher. “One is termed compensatory napping, essentially what you do following poor sleep the previous night. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, which involves preparing for sleep loss in the future, for example if you’re working graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which essentially boils down to desire: there is a moment to sleep in the daytime, and it's pleasant to indulge.”
The primary task to consider, therefore, is consider your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when nighttime sleep gets interrupted for reasons you cannot change – such as, when you are a new parent, or recovering after being ill or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep specialist. “Yet when you take a nap as your night sleep seems unreliable or broken, that’s often a sign your sleep drive is not at the level required. Under those circumstances, napping can become part of the problem, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the priority must always be a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
Therefore that daytime sleep shouldn’t be too extended to disrupt your sleep at night, and preferably should not occur in the late afternoon (based on the time you go to bed in the evening). How long is sensible? Advice differs. In one of the most-cited studies about napping, space agency scientists noted that astronauts experienced improvements of over 50% in vigilance and a 34% increase in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this involved a six-minute falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest setting a timer for half an hour or less – most people are asleep in under ten minutes,” explains a specialist. “You'll find much recommendations about the optimal amount of time, yet that often lead individuals to become more worried above all – and the worst thing you can possibly do when attempting to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, bypass the 45-60 minute window that encourages sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “Studies would say it is preferable to have an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” explains the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is long enough to put you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel disoriented when you get up – however, if you extend it a bit longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to finish a full cycle and are likely to get up feeling more alert. However, if you nap for an hour and a half, it can influence how you sleep in the evening.”
Establishing an Ideal Sleep Space
Regarding exact methodologies, advice differs. A few professionals recommend using comparable habits you’d use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Alternatively, experts propose that you should simply nap on the sofa in whatever light happens to be around – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to maintain your bedroom as the environment you associate with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to will,” explains an expert. “Lacking the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to get comfortable and essentially command yourself to nod off. There must be some drive there to initiate sleep to begin with. I can usually take a nap in full light and awaken on my own without an alarm, though, what aids a lot of people is to wait for an instance when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and should you have few options – for example, when aiming to squeeze in some shut-eye during a commute or in a work pod – it's acceptable to employ sleep aids. “In my work with footballers, I advise that they not rely on napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will
