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Hear a few performance podcasters, and it’s tempting to think that napping is a powerful tool: more than a sticking plaster after a bad night’s sleep, but a path towards improved recall, a brighter outlook and maybe a faster 5k run time. Elite athletes do it regularly – and so are professional piano players, mixed martial artists and media moguls. However, if you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or a job that allows regular snoozing, are there *really* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye to merit the hassle? Does there exist a reliable way to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you truly ensure you will get up feeling better, instead of groggy?

Exploring The Reasons for Napping

“Experts note three main reasons for daytime sleep in the adult population,” notes an expert sleep and circadian science researcher. “Firstly, there's what we call recovery napping, which is the action you take when you’ve had poor sleep overnight. The second is pre-emptive sleep, when you are pre-empting sleep loss coming up, such as during overnight shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which simply comes down to wanting: there is a moment to sleep during the day, and it's pleasant to do it.”

The initial step to undertake, therefore, is consider your nap motivation. “Napping can be truly beneficial when overnight rest is disturbed for reasons you cannot change – such as, for a new parent, or if you are healing from illness or strenuous activity,” states a sleep specialist. “Yet when you take a nap since your night sleep seems unreliable or broken, that is frequently an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not where required. In those cases, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the focus should still be a robust and regular overnight rest.”

The Ideal Nap Duration

This implies that daytime sleep shouldn’t be sufficiently lengthy to affect your overnight rest, and best should not occur after about 3pm (based on what time you retire overnight). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. Among the most-cited studies on the subject, experts noted that crew members showed a boost of up to 54% in alertness and a 34% increase in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (in detail, this included a six-minute nodding-off period). “My advice is using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – most people fall asleep within 10 minutes,” explains a specialist. “There is plenty of advice around about the perfect length of time, yet that often lead individuals to become more worried than anything – and the worst thing one can do while aiming to nod off is worry about it.”

If you’re going to sleep for longer, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “Research suggests it’s better to opt for a longer nap of one to one and a half hours rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the professor. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to put you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented when you get up – whereas if you extend it slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to be completing a full cycle and will probably get up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you’re sleeping for an hour and a half, it may impact your sleep in the evening.”

Establishing the Right Sleep Space

As for exact methodologies, recommendations vary. Certain specialists suggest employing similar routines you use to promote a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as is feasible. Alternatively, experts propose that one could simply nap on the sofa in whatever light happens to be around – to avoid that groggy feeling and to preserve your bedroom as the space your brain links with *real* sleep. “Napping is quite challenging to command,” explains a sleep coach. “Without any sleepiness, it is tougher to recline and practically instruct yourself to nod off. You need a natural inclination there to bring the sleep on in the first place. For me, it's possible to nap during the day and naturally wake up without an alarm, however, what assists a lot of people is to wait for a moment when they are naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently allow sleep to come.”

It’s worth experimenting, and when options are scarce – for instance, when aiming to squeeze in some shut-eye during a commute or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong to employ sleep aids. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I recommend that they avoid becoming accustomed to their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will