🔗 Share this article

Tune into a few self-improvement gurus, and you'll be easy to believe that dozing is a superpower: rather than a sticking plaster after a bad night’s sleep, but a route towards a better memory, a brighter outlook and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Premier League soccer players do it regularly – along with professional piano players, mixed martial artists and high-profile executives. Yet, when you don't have a special sleep space or employment that encourages regular snoozing, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a short sleep to merit the hassle? Can you find a surefire technique to nod off promptly? Furthermore, can you honestly promise you will arise feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?

Identifying Your Reasons for Napping

“We can identify three main reasons for napping for many people,” notes an expert sleep and circadian science researcher. “The first is termed compensatory napping, that is what happens following poor sleep the night before. Another is preparatory napping, when you are preparing for sleep loss in the future, for instance if you’re working on night shifts. The third reason is “appetitive drive”, which essentially comes down to desire: you have an opportunity to nap in the afternoon, and it's pleasant to indulge.”

The primary task to consider, then, is to examine why you want to nap. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when overnight rest gets interrupted due to causes beyond your control – for instance, if you’re a new parent, or you’re recovering from illness or heavy physical exertion,” explains a sleep specialist. “However, if you nap because your sleep at night feels fragile or broken, that’s often an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not at the level it needs to be. In such situations, naps can become part of the issue, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the priority should still be a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”

The Optimal Nap Length

Therefore that naps must not be long enough to disrupt your overnight rest, and ideally are not recommended after about 3pm (depending on when you sleep in the evening). What duration is wise? Guidelines are mixed. From the most referenced research on the subject, space agency scientists found that crew members showed a boost of up to 54% in vigilance plus a 34% rise in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this included a six-minute sleep onset time). “I recommend setting a timer for half an hour or less – many individuals doze off within 10 minutes,” says a sleep expert. “You'll find much recommendations concerning the optimal amount of time, but that tends to make people feel more stressed than anything – and the worst thing you can do while aiming to get to sleep is worry about it.”

If you’re going to sleep for longer, avoid the 45-60 minute window that induces that sluggish feeling, that foggy state when you awaken. “Research suggests it is preferable to take an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” explains the sleep scientist. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to send you into a deep sleep stage and it is more probable to feel disoriented upon awakening – whereas if you take it a little longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to be on the end of a sleep cycle and should awaken feeling more alert. Though if you nap for a long period, it will affect how you sleep in the evening.”

Creating the Perfect Snooze Setting

As for specific techniques, suggestions are diverse. Some experts recommend adopting the same protocol one would use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and minimal light as possible. Some advise that you should just doze on a couch with ambient lighting is available – both to discourage that groggy feeling and to “protect” your sleeping quarters as the space your brain links with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to will,” notes a specialist. “Lacking any sleepiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and practically tell yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some drive there to bring the sleep on initially. I can usually snooze during the day and wake up naturally alarm-free, however, what assists a lot of people is to anticipate a time that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and then simply allow sleep to come.”

It’s worth experimenting, and when options are scarce – for example, if attempting to squeeze in some shut-eye on a train or in a soundproof office pod – it is perfectly fine to employ some accessories. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I advise that they don’t get used to napping in bed, as they’re going to have|they will