Tune into enough performance podcasters, and it’s tempting to think that napping is a superpower: rather than a sticking plaster after a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut towards improved recall, a brighter outlook and maybe improved athletic performance. Premier League footballers swear by it – along with professional piano players, mixed martial artists & media moguls. Yet, when you don't have a room for napping or a job that encourages daytime sleep, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the hassle? Can you find a surefire technique to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you will arise feeling better, rather than worse?
Understanding The Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three primary motivations for daytime sleep for many people,” says a professor of circadian rhythm professor. “Firstly, there's what we call recovery napping, essentially what happens after experiencing poor sleep overnight. The second is preparatory napping, when you are pre-empting a sleep deficit in the future, for instance if you’re working overnight shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which essentially comes down to desire: you have a chance to sleep in the afternoon, and it feels nice to indulge.”
The primary task to consider, then, is to examine your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when overnight rest is disturbed due to causes outside your control – for example, when you are caring for an infant, or recovering from illness or heavy physical exertion,” states a sleep specialist. “But if you take a nap because your nighttime sleep is unstable or broken, that’s often an indicator your sleep drive is not at the level required. In such situations, naps can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Use napping as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the priority should still be a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Nap Length
This implies that daytime sleep shouldn’t be long enough to affect your sleep at night, and ideally are not recommended after about 3pm (depending on when you sleep overnight). What duration is wise? Advice differs. From the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa discovered that crew members showed improvements of over 50% in alertness plus a 34% rise in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this included a six-minute long sleep onset time). “I’d suggest using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals fall asleep in under ten minutes,” explains a specialist. “There’s a lot of advice around concerning the perfect length of time, yet that often lead individuals to become more anxious than anything else – and the worst thing one can do when trying to nod off is worry about it.”
If you plan to sleep for longer, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that induces that sluggish feeling, that foggy state when you awaken. “The science indicates it is preferable to take an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel disoriented when you get up – while if you extend it slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to finish a natural sleep cycle and should get up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it will affect your sleep later that night.”
Creating the Right Snooze Setting
As for precise methods, recommendations vary. A few professionals propose adopting comparable habits you use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that one could merely snooze on the sofa with ambient lighting is available – both to discourage sleep inertia and to preserve your bedroom as the space your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is notoriously difficult to command,” says a specialist. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it is tougher to get comfortable and essentially instruct yourself to fall asleep. You need some drive present to start the process in the first place. For me, it's possible to nap in broad daylight and awaken on my own without a timer, but what helps most folks is to look for a moment where they feel naturally slightly tired and then simply ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should you have few options – for example, if attempting to fit in 40 winks while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong to use some accessories. “Coaching footballers, I advise that they avoid becoming accustomed to sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
