Hear enough performance experts, making it easy to convince yourself that dozing is a superpower: not just a sticking plaster after poor sleep, but a shortcut towards improved recall, a brighter outlook and maybe a faster 5k run time. Premier League footballers do it regularly – as do professional piano players, mixed martial artists & business leaders. But if you lack a room for napping or a career that allows regular snoozing, are there *really* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the effort? Is there a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? And can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, rather than worse?
Exploring Your Drive to Snooze
“We can identify three key drivers for taking a nap for many people,” says a leading sleep science professor. “Firstly, there's what we call recovery napping, essentially what happens when you’ve had poor sleep overnight. The second is preparatory napping, where you are anticipating sleep loss in the future, for example during graveyard shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which simply comes down to wanting: you get a moment to nap during the day, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The first thing to consider, so, is consider your reason for napping. “Naps can be genuinely useful when night sleeping is being disrupted for reasons outside your control – for example, when you are caring for an infant, or if you are healing from illness or intense exercise,” states a sleep specialist. “But if you take a nap as your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or poor, that’s often an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not where it needs to be. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into a contributing factor, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the main goal must always be a robust and regular night’s sleep.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
Therefore that napping must not be too extended to affect your nighttime sleep, and preferably shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (contingent on what time you go to bed at night). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. From the most referenced research on the subject, researchers at Nasa found that space travelers had improvements of over 50% in vigilance plus a 34% rise in performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this counted a six-minute long nodding-off period). “I’d suggest setting an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – most people fall asleep within 10 minutes,” explains a specialist. “You'll find much recommendations concerning the optimal amount of minutes, however, that can lead individuals to become more anxious than anything – and the most counterproductive thing one can do when trying to nod off is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to take an extended nap, bypass the 45-60 minute window that encourages sleep grogginess, that foggy state when you awaken. “The science suggests it's more effective to have a longer nap of one to one and a half hours than a medium-length one,” explains the professor. “45 minutes is enough time to put you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel disoriented when you wake up – whereas if you take it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to be completing a natural sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more alert. Though if you’re sleeping for a long period, it will affect the quality of your sleep later that night.”
Finding the Perfect Snooze Setting
As for precise methods, suggestions are diverse. Some experts suggest employing similar routines you’d use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and minimal light as you can manage. Some advise that you should simply nap on the sofa with ambient lighting is available – both to discourage sleep inertia and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the place you associate with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to force,” explains an expert. “If you don’t have any sleepiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and practically tell yourself to nod off. There must be some drive present to initiate sleep to begin with. Personally, I can often snooze in full light and naturally wake up alarm-free, however, what assists a lot of people is to anticipate a time when they are naturally slightly tired and just gently ease into sleep.”
Trying different approaches is valuable, and should you have few options – such as, when aiming to grab a quick nap during a commute or in a work pod – it's acceptable with bringing some accessories. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I advise that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
