Hear enough self-improvement gurus, and it’s simple to believe that napping is a secret weapon: more than a sticking plaster following restless night, but a route to improved recall, improved mood and perhaps improved athletic performance. Premier League footballers are all at it – along with musicians, fighters and high-profile executives. But if you lack a dedicated nap-room or a job that permits frequent naps, is it *truly* enough benefits to a quick nap to merit the kerfuffle? Does there exist a dependable method to get to sleep quickly enough? And can you really guarantee you’ll wake up feeling improved, rather than worse?
Exploring The Nap Motivation
“Experts note three primary motivations for napping among most adults,” says a professor of sleep science researcher. “One is what we call make-up sleep, essentially what you do when you’ve had insufficient sleep the night before. Secondly, there's preparatory napping, which involves preparing for insufficient sleep coming up, for instance when working graveyard shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which essentially comes down to the wish: you have an opportunity to sleep in the daytime, and it feels nice to nap.”
The first thing to do, so, is to examine your reason for napping. “Naps can be really helpful when overnight rest gets interrupted for reasons you cannot change – for example, when you are caring for an infant, or recovering from sickness or intense exercise,” states a sleep specialist. “But if you’re napping because your night sleep feels fragile or broken, that is frequently a sign your need for sleep is not where it should be. In such situations, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, not the solution. Employ naps as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the priority must always be a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Optimal Nap Length
This means that daytime sleep shouldn’t be too extended to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and best should not occur post-3 p.m. (depending on the time you sleep in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. From the most-cited studies about napping, experts discovered that astronauts experienced improvements of over 50% in alertness plus a 34% rise in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this involved an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “My advice is using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – the majority fall asleep quickly,” notes a sleep coach. “There is plenty of guidance out there about the perfect length of minutes, however, that can make people feel more anxious above all – and the least helpful action you can possibly do when attempting to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, avoid the 45-60 minute window that encourages sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “The science indicates it's more effective to opt for a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the expert. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – whereas if you nap for a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing a natural sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you nap for an hour and a half, it may impact your sleep that night.”
Establishing the Right Snooze Setting
As for exact methodologies, recommendations vary. Some experts propose employing the same protocol one would use to promote a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to simply nap in a chair in whatever light is available – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bedroom as the place you associate with *real* sleep. “Sleep is something really tricky to force,” explains a specialist. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to lie down and essentially tell yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some sleep pressure there to start the process in the first place. For me, it's possible to snooze during the day and wake up naturally alarm-free, but what helps most folks is to anticipate a time that they’re naturally slightly tired and then simply relax into it.”
Experimentation is key, and when options are scarce – for instance, if attempting to fit in 40 winks while traveling or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine to employ sleep aids. “Coaching footballers, I suggest that they don’t get used to napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will
