The Formula for a Perfect Snooze: Timing, Where & for How Long?
Listen to plenty of productivity gurus, and you'll be easy to believe that napping is a powerful tool: rather than a sticking plaster after a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut to a better memory, improved mood and maybe a faster 5k run time. Premier League soccer players do it regularly – and so are concert pianists, UFC champions & high-profile executives. However, if you don't have a room for napping or a career that allows regular snoozing, are there *really* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the hassle? Can you find a reliable way to nod off promptly? And can you honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling better, not worse?
Identifying The Nap Motivation
“We can identify three key drivers for taking a nap in the adult population,” notes a leading circadian rhythm researcher. “One is known as make-up sleep, which is what you do after experiencing a lack of sleep the previous night. The second is preparatory napping, which involves anticipating sleep loss coming up, such as during graveyard shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which simply boils down to the wish: you get a chance to doze during the day, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The initial step to do, so, is to think about why you want to nap. “Naps can be genuinely useful when night sleeping is being disrupted because of factors outside your control – for example, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or if you are healing from illness or strenuous activity,” says a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you nap because your nighttime sleep feels fragile or unreliable, that can be an indicator your need for sleep is not at the level it should be. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the problem, not the solution. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods to address immediate needs – the focus should still be a strong and predictable overnight rest.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
This implies that napping must not be too extended to affect your nighttime sleep, and best are not recommended after about 3pm (contingent on when you go to bed in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. From the most-cited studies regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa found that space travelers showed a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this involved a six-minute long nodding-off period). “I recommend using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – most people are asleep quickly,” explains a sleep expert. “You'll find much recommendations regarding the optimal amount of time, but that tends to make people feel more anxious above all – and the least helpful action you can do when attempting to nod off is to stress over it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that promotes sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “Studies indicates it’s better to have an extended nap of one to one and a half hours rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is enough time to put you into deep sleep and you’re more likely to feel sluggish when you get up – while if you nap for slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you will probably to finish a full cycle and should wake up feeling more alert. Though if you nap for an hour and a half, it can influence how you sleep in the evening.”
Finding the Perfect Sleep Space
As for exact methodologies, advice differs. Certain specialists recommend using similar routines you use to foster a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as you can manage. Others suggest that it's fine to merely snooze on a couch with ambient lighting is available – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to maintain your bed as the space you associate with nighttime rest. “Sleep is notoriously difficult to will,” says a specialist. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to get comfortable and practically command yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some sleep pressure available to start the process to begin with. Personally, I can often nap in full light and awaken on my own alarm-free, though, what aids most folks is to look for a moment where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and when your choices are limited – for example, if you’re trying to fit in some shut-eye on a train or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable to employ a few tools. “When I’m working with professional sportspeople, I suggest that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will
