Hear a few productivity experts, and you'll be easy to think that dozing is a superpower: not just a sticking plaster after restless night, but a shortcut to a better memory, improved mood and maybe quicker running times. Premier League soccer players do it regularly – along with professional piano players, fighters & media moguls. However, if you haven’t got a room for napping or a career that allows regular snoozing, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a quick nap to merit the hassle? Can you find a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling better, not worse?
Identifying The Nap Motivation
“We can identify three primary motivations for taking a nap in the adult population,” notes a professor of sleep and circadian science specialist. “One is known as make-up sleep, that is the action you take after experiencing insufficient sleep overnight. The second is prophylactic napping, which involves pre-empting a sleep deficit ahead, for example if you’re working graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply comes down to wanting: there is an opportunity to sleep in the afternoon, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The primary task to undertake, therefore, is to think about your nap motivation. “Naps can be genuinely useful when overnight rest is being disrupted due to causes beyond your control – such as, when you are a parent of a newborn, or recovering after being ill or strenuous activity,” says a sleep specialist. “However, if you’re napping because your night sleep is unstable or unreliable, that can be a sign your body's sleep pressure is not where it should be. In those cases, napping can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the focus must always be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Snooze Time
This implies that naps shouldn’t be long enough to interfere with your sleep at night, and ideally should not occur in the late afternoon (contingent on what time you sleep overnight). What duration is wise? Advice differs. In one of the most referenced research on the subject, experts noted that space travelers had improvements of over 50% in attentiveness and a 34% boost in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this involved a six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – most people are asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a specialist. “You'll find much guidance out there concerning the ideal number for sleeping, but that tends to make people feel more worried above all – and the least helpful action you can possibly do when attempting to nod off is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to sleep for longer, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “Research indicates it’s better to have a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” says the expert. “45 minutes is long enough to send you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel groggy when you get up – while if you take it slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing a full cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more alert. However, if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it may impact how you sleep that night.”
Establishing an Ideal Nap Environment
As for precise methods, advice differs. Some experts propose adopting similar routines you use to foster restful sleep: a quiet room, a supportive surface and minimal light as is feasible. Others suggest that it's fine to just doze on the sofa in the existing light is present – to avoid that groggy feeling and to “protect” your bedroom as the space your brain links with *real* sleep. “Napping is something really tricky to force,” explains a specialist. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it is more challenging to lie down and practically instruct yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some drive there to bring the sleep on to begin with. For me, it's possible to nap in full light and naturally wake up without an alarm, though, what aids a lot of people is to look for an instance where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should options are scarce – such as, if attempting to fit in some shut-eye while traveling or at the office – there’s nothing wrong with bringing a few tools. “In my work with footballers, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will
