Tune into a few productivity podcasters, and it’s tempting to believe that a nap is a superpower: more than a sticking plaster following restless night, but a path towards enhanced cognition, improved mood and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Elite athletes swear by it – as do musicians, UFC champions and high-profile executives. However, if you lack a dedicated nap-room or a job that encourages frequent naps, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye to merit the hassle? Is there a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you will get up feeling improved, not worse?
Understanding Your Reasons for Napping
“There are three main reasons for napping for many people,” notes a professor of circadian rhythm researcher. “The first is known as recovery napping, which is what you do following insufficient sleep the previous night. Another is pre-emptive sleep, when you are anticipating sleep loss in the future, for example if you’re working overnight shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially boils down to wanting: you get a chance to nap in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The primary task to consider, therefore, is to examine why you want to nap. “Naps can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted due to causes outside your control – for instance, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” states a sleep specialist. “Yet when you take a nap since your night sleep feels fragile or unreliable, that can be an indicator your need for sleep is not where it needs to be. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the problem, not the solution. Use napping for brief periods to address immediate needs – the priority ought to remain a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This implies that napping ought not to be long enough to affect your sleep at night, and preferably shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (based on what time you sleep at night). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. In one of a prominent study about napping, experts found that space travelers experienced improvements of over 50% in attentiveness and a 34% increase in task performance after a 26-minute nap (in detail, this involved a six-minute long nodding-off period). “My advice is using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – most people are asleep within 10 minutes,” explains a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of advice around concerning the ideal number of time, yet that often make people feel more stressed than anything – and the most counterproductive thing you can possibly do when trying to fall asleep is to stress over it.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, avoid the 45-60 minute window that induces that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “The science suggests it's more effective to take a longer nap of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” explains the professor. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to put you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented when you get up – while if you extend it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to finish of a sleep cycle and should wake up feeling more rejuvenated. But if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it can influence your sleep in the evening.”
Finding the Perfect Snooze Setting
As for precise methods, recommendations vary. A few professionals suggest using the same protocol one would use to foster a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a supportive surface and as much darkness as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that you should merely snooze in a chair in whatever light is available – to prevent sleep inertia and to “protect” your bedroom as the environment your brain links with nighttime rest. “Sleep is notoriously difficult to command,” says a specialist. “Without any drowsiness, it is more challenging to recline and basically tell yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination there to initiate sleep initially. For me, it's possible to nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up without a timer, however, what assists a lot of people is to anticipate a moment where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and if your choices are limited – for example, if attempting to fit in some shut-eye on a train or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine to employ a few tools. “When I’m working with footballers, I suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to sleeping in their bed, as they’re going to have|they will
