The Formula for an Ideal Nap: When, Location and for How Long?

Tune into a few productivity gurus, and you'll be tempting to convince yourself that napping is a secret weapon: more than a band-aid after a bad night’s sleep, but a route towards a better memory, better spirits and possibly a faster 5k run time. Elite soccer players swear by it – along with concert pianists, mixed martial artists and business leaders. But if you haven’t got a special sleep space or a career that permits 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 fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling improved, instead of groggy?

Identifying Your Reasons for Napping

“Experts note three main reasons for daytime sleep in the adult population,” says a professor of sleep and circadian science researcher. “The first is known as make-up sleep, essentially what you do following poor sleep overnight. Secondly, there's pre-emptive sleep, when you are anticipating sleep loss in the future, such as if you’re working overnight shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which basically comes down to wanting: there is an opportunity to nap during the day, and it's enjoyable to nap.”

The initial step to do, then, is to think about your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when nighttime sleep is disturbed due to causes beyond your control – such as, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering from illness or strenuous activity,” states a sleep expert. “However, if you nap since your sleep at night is unstable or broken, that is frequently a signal your sleep drive is not as strong as required. In those cases, naps can become part of the problem, not the solution. Employ naps as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the focus must always be a robust and regular overnight rest.”

The Ideal Nap Duration

This implies that napping must not be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and preferably shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (contingent on the time you retire in the evening). How long is sensible? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most referenced research about napping, researchers at Nasa discovered that crew members had a boost of up to 54% in alertness and a 34% boost in performance after a 26-minute nap (in detail, this included a six-minute long sleep onset time). “My advice is setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – many individuals doze off in under ten minutes,” explains a specialist. “There is plenty of recommendations about the perfect length of time, yet that often make people feel more anxious above all – and the least helpful action you can possibly do while aiming to get to sleep is worry about it.”

If you plan to sleep for longer, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces that sluggish feeling, that foggy state when you wake. “The science suggests it's more effective to opt for a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the professor. “45 minutes is enough time to plunge you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel sluggish when you get up – while if you nap for slightly longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be completing of a sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more refreshed. But if you nap for an hour and a half, it may impact your sleep that night.”

Finding an Ideal Sleep Space

When it comes to exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. Certain specialists propose using the same protocol one would use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that you should merely snooze on the sofa in the existing light is present – both to discourage sleep inertia and to preserve your bedroom as the space your brain links with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to force,” explains a specialist. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it becomes harder to get comfortable and essentially command yourself to go to sleep. You need some sleep pressure available to start the process in the first place. I can usually take a nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up alarm-free, though, what aids a lot of people is to wait for a time that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently allow sleep to come.”

Trying different approaches is valuable, and should your choices are limited – such as, when aiming to grab 40 winks on a train or in a work pod – it's acceptable to employ some accessories. “In my work with footballers, I recommend that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will