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Listen to a few self-improvement gurus, making it tempting to believe that a nap is a superpower: not just a band-aid after a bad night’s sleep, but a route to enhanced cognition, improved mood and perhaps improved athletic performance. Elite soccer players do it regularly – and so are musicians, UFC champions & high-profile executives. Yet, when you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or employment that encourages daytime sleep, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a quick nap to merit the effort? 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, instead of groggy?

Understanding The Reasons for Napping

“Experts note three primary motivations for daytime sleep among most adults,” notes a professor of circadian rhythm professor. “Firstly, there's termed recovery napping, which is what you do when you’ve had poor sleep overnight. The second is preparatory napping, where you are preparing for sleep loss ahead, for example when working graveyard shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially is about the wish: you get a moment to doze in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”

The first thing to do, then, is to think about why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when overnight rest is being disrupted due to causes you cannot change – such as, for a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering after being ill or strenuous activity,” states a sleep specialist. “However, if you nap as your night sleep feels fragile or broken, that’s often a sign your sleep drive is not at the level required. In those cases, naps can become a contributing factor, instead of the fix. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the focus ought to remain a robust and regular night’s sleep.”

The Ideal Nap Length

Therefore that napping must not be sufficiently lengthy to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and preferably are not recommended after about 3pm (based on when you go to bed in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. Among the most referenced research about napping, space agency scientists noted that crew members had up to a 54% increase in vigilance plus a 34% rise in task performance after a 26-minute nap (technically, this involved a six-minute nodding-off period). “I’d suggest setting a timer for half an hour or less – many individuals are asleep within 10 minutes,” says a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of recommendations about the ideal number for sleeping, but that tends to lead individuals to become more stressed than anything else – and the worst thing one can do when trying to get to sleep is to stress over it.”

Should you decide to sleep for longer, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep grogginess, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “The science indicates it's more effective to take a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is sufficient to put you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented when you wake up – whereas if you nap for slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to finish a natural sleep cycle and are likely to awaken feeling more alert. Though if you’re sleeping for a long period, it will affect the quality of your sleep that night.”

Establishing the Perfect Snooze Setting

Regarding precise methods, advice differs. Certain specialists suggest employing similar routines you’d use to foster restful sleep: a silent space, a cozy bed and as much darkness as you can manage. Others suggest that one could simply nap on a couch in the existing light is present – to avoid sleep inertia and to preserve your bed as the environment your mind associates with proper sleep. “Sleep is notoriously difficult to will,” explains an expert. “Lacking the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to lie down and basically tell yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some sleep pressure there to initiate sleep initially. I can usually snooze in full light and wake up naturally without an alarm, but what helps a lot of people is to look for a moment where they feel naturally slightly tired and then simply ease into sleep.”

It’s worth experimenting, and if you have few options – for example, if you’re trying to grab some shut-eye while traveling or in a work pod – it is perfectly fine to employ some accessories. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I suggest that they don’t get used to napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will