Listen to plenty of performance experts, and it’s simple to convince yourself that a nap is a superpower: not just a quick fix following poor sleep, but a shortcut to improved recall, better spirits and perhaps quicker running times. Elite athletes are all at it – and so are concert pianists, UFC champions & business leaders. Yet, when you don't have a dedicated nap-room or a career that permits daytime sleep, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a quick nap to merit the kerfuffle? Does there exist a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you will get up feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Understanding Your Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three main reasons for taking a nap in the adult population,” explains a leading circadian rhythm professor. “One is what we call compensatory napping, essentially the action you take after experiencing poor sleep the night before. The second is prophylactic napping, where you are preparing for sleep loss ahead, for instance when working graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially comes down to desire: you get a moment to doze in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”
The primary task to consider, therefore, is to examine why you want to nap. “Naps can be really helpful when night sleeping gets interrupted for reasons you cannot change – such as, for a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing after being ill or strenuous activity,” says a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you take a nap since your nighttime sleep feels fragile or unreliable, that’s often an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not where required. In such situations, napping can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods to address immediate needs – the main goal should still be a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
This means that napping ought not to be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your overnight rest, and ideally should not occur post-3 p.m. (depending on the time you sleep overnight). What duration is wise? Advice differs. Among the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa discovered that space travelers experienced up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% increase in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this counted a six-minute sleep onset time). “My advice is using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals doze off quickly,” says a sleep expert. “There is plenty of advice around about the ideal number of minutes, yet that often cause people to feel more anxious above all – and the least helpful action one can do when trying to nod off is to be anxious.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “The science suggests it is preferable to opt for an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the sleep scientist. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to send you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel groggy upon awakening – whereas if you take it a little longer to 60 or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end a full cycle and should get up feeling more refreshed. However, if you nap for a long period, it will affect your sleep that night.”
Finding an Ideal Snooze Setting
As for exact methodologies, recommendations vary. A few professionals propose employing the same protocol you’d use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and minimal light as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that one could simply nap on a couch with ambient lighting is available – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to preserve your bedroom as the space you associate with *real* sleep. “Napping is quite challenging to force,” explains an expert. “Without any drowsiness, it is more challenging to lie down and practically command yourself to fall asleep. You need some sleep pressure available to initiate sleep initially. For me, it's possible to take a nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally alarm-free, but what helps a lot of people is to wait for a time when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and calmly relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if you have few options – such as, if attempting to squeeze in 40 winks during a commute or at the office – it's acceptable with bringing sleep aids. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I recommend that they don’t get used to their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
