The Formula for a Perfect Nap: When, Where & Duration?
Tune into a few self-improvement podcasters, and it’s easy to think that napping is a superpower: rather than a band-aid following a bad night’s sleep, but a path to a better memory, improved mood and perhaps improved athletic performance. Premier League soccer players are all at it – as do musicians, fighters & high-profile executives. However, if you don't have a dedicated nap-room or employment that permits frequent naps, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a quick nap to justify the hassle? Can you find a reliable way to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you will get up feeling better, rather than worse?
Identifying The Reasons for Napping
“There are three key drivers for daytime sleep for many people,” notes an expert sleep science specialist. “Firstly, there's termed compensatory napping, essentially the action you take when you’ve had insufficient sleep the night before. Another is prophylactic napping, which involves pre-empting insufficient sleep in the future, for instance during overnight shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which basically comes down to the wish: you get an opportunity to nap during the day, and it's enjoyable to do it.”
The initial step to consider, then, is to think about why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is disturbed because of factors you cannot change – for example, if you’re caring for an infant, or if you are healing from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” states a sleep specialist. “However, if you’re napping as your sleep at night is unstable or unreliable, that is frequently an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not at the level it needs to be. In such situations, napping can become part of the problem, instead of the fix. Employ naps for brief periods for temporary issues – the focus must always be a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Optimal Nap Duration
Therefore that daytime sleep must not be too extended to affect your overnight rest, and ideally are not recommended in the late afternoon (depending on what time you go to bed in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. In one of the most referenced research on the subject, experts found that crew members showed a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this involved an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting a timer for 20 to 30 minutes – most people fall asleep quickly,” says a sleep expert. “There’s a lot of advice around concerning the perfect length of time, yet that often make people feel more stressed than anything else – and the least helpful action one can do when trying to get to sleep is worry about it.”
Should you decide to nap for a longer period, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Research suggests it is preferable to have a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is long enough to plunge you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel sluggish upon awakening – while if you take it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, it's likely you'll to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you nap for 90 minutes, it will affect the quality of your sleep that night.”
Establishing an Ideal Snooze Setting
When it comes to exact methodologies, recommendations vary. Some experts recommend adopting the same protocol you use to promote a good night’s sleep: a silent space, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as you can manage. Some advise that you should just doze on the sofa with ambient lighting is available – both to discourage sleep inertia and to “protect” your bed as the place your mind associates with nighttime rest. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to command,” explains a sleep coach. “If you don’t have the urge to sleep, it is tougher to get comfortable and essentially instruct yourself to nod off. You need some sleep pressure there to bring the sleep on initially. For me, it's possible to nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up alarm-free, however, what assists most folks is to anticipate a time that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly allow sleep to come.”
Experimentation is key, and if your choices are limited – for instance, when aiming to squeeze in a quick nap during a commute or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine to use a few tools. “In my work with footballers, I suggest that they avoid becoming accustomed to napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
