Listen to enough productivity gurus, and you'll be tempting to believe that dozing is a superpower: not just a quick fix following restless night, but a route to a better memory, a brighter outlook and maybe quicker running times. Professional soccer players do it regularly – as do concert pianists, fighters and high-profile executives. Yet, when you haven’t got a room for napping or a career that encourages frequent naps, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the effort? Is there a dependable method to nod off promptly? And can you really guarantee you will arise feeling improved, instead of groggy?
Exploring The Reasons for Napping
“Experts note three primary motivations for taking a nap for many people,” explains a leading sleep and circadian science researcher. “The first is what we call compensatory napping, essentially what happens following insufficient sleep the previous night. Secondly, there's prophylactic napping, which involves preparing for insufficient sleep coming up, for instance when working graveyard shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which essentially boils down to the wish: you get a moment to sleep during the day, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The primary task to undertake, therefore, is to examine why you want to nap. “Naps can be truly beneficial when overnight rest is disturbed because of factors outside your control – such as, if you’re caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from illness or intense exercise,” states a sleep specialist. “However, if you’re napping because your nighttime sleep is unstable or poor, that’s often a signal your body's sleep pressure is not at the level it needs to be. In such situations, napping can become part of the problem, not the solution. Employ naps as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the main goal must always be a solid and consistent night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This implies that napping must not be sufficiently lengthy to affect your overnight rest, and ideally are not recommended after about 3pm (depending on the time you retire at night). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. From a prominent study on the subject, experts noted that space travelers showed improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% increase in task performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this included an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “I’d suggest setting a timer for half an hour or less – most people doze off within 10 minutes,” explains a sleep expert. “There is plenty of guidance out there concerning the perfect length for sleeping, however, that can make people feel more worried than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing you can possibly do when attempting to fall asleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, steer clear of the period between 45 and 60 minutes that promotes that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “Studies would say it’s better to have a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to put you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you get up – whereas if you extend it a little longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to be completing of a sleep cycle and will probably get up feeling more refreshed. But if you nap for a long period, it can influence your sleep later that night.”
Creating the Right Nap Environment
As for specific techniques, advice differs. Certain specialists suggest adopting the same protocol you’d use to foster restful sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and minimal light as possible. Others suggest that it's fine to just doze in a chair in whatever light is present – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to preserve your sleeping quarters as the environment your mind associates with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is quite challenging to will,” notes an expert. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it is more challenging to recline and practically command yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination available to bring the sleep on to begin with. Personally, I can often take a nap in full light and naturally wake up without an alarm, but what helps most folks is to look for a time where they feel naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply ease into sleep.”
Experimentation is key, and should options are scarce – for example, if you’re trying to grab some shut-eye on a train or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine to employ sleep aids. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I recommend that they not rely on their own bed for naps, because they’re going to have|they will
