Listen to enough performance gurus, making it easy to think that a nap is a secret weapon: rather than a quick fix after poor sleep, but a shortcut to improved recall, better spirits and possibly a faster 5k run time. Elite soccer players swear by it – as do concert pianists, fighters & business leaders. Yet, when you haven’t got a special sleep space or employment that allows frequent naps, are there *really* enough benefits to a quick nap to justify the hassle? Does there exist a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you will get up feeling better, not worse?
Understanding The Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three primary motivations for daytime sleep among most adults,” explains a leading circadian rhythm researcher. “Firstly, there's known as recovery napping, essentially what you do when you’ve had poor sleep the night before. The second is prophylactic napping, which involves preparing for a sleep deficit ahead, for instance if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which basically comes down to the wish: there is an opportunity to nap in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The primary task to consider, then, is to think about why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when overnight rest gets interrupted for reasons beyond your control – for instance, for a new parent, or recovering after being ill or intense exercise,” explains a sleep expert. “However, if you nap because your nighttime sleep is unstable or poor, that is frequently an indicator your sleep drive is not as strong as required. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into a contributing factor, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods for temporary issues – the focus should still be a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Perfect Nap Length
This implies that napping shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to affect your sleep at night, and ideally should not occur post-3 p.m. (depending on when you go to bed overnight). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. In one of the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, space agency scientists discovered that crew members showed up to a 54% increase in vigilance and a 34% boost in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this counted a six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend setting an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals are asleep quickly,” says a specialist. “You'll find much advice around about the optimal amount for sleeping, yet that often lead individuals to become more worried than anything – and the least helpful action one can do when trying to fall asleep is to be anxious.”
If you plan to sleep for longer, avoid the 45-60 minute window that encourages sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “Research would say it’s better to have a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” says the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is long enough to put you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel sluggish when you get up – whereas if you take it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be on the end a full cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it may impact the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Creating the Right Sleep Space
Regarding precise methods, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals propose adopting similar routines you use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Some advise that one could merely snooze on a couch in whatever light is available – to avoid sleep inertia and to maintain your bedroom as the environment your brain links with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to will,” notes an expert. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is tougher to lie down and essentially instruct yourself to go to sleep. You need some sleep pressure available to initiate sleep to begin with. For me, it's possible to snooze during the day and naturally wake up without an alarm, however, what assists a lot of people is to look for an instance where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and just gently relax into it.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should options are scarce – for instance, when aiming to grab a quick nap on a train or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine to use some accessories. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I suggest that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
