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Listen to a few performance gurus, making it easy to think that napping is a superpower: rather than a band-aid following a bad night’s sleep, but a path towards a better memory, improved mood and possibly quicker running times. Elite soccer players do it regularly – along with professional piano players, UFC champions and media moguls. Yet, when you lack a room for napping or a career that permits daytime sleep, are there *really* worthwhile perks to a short sleep for it to be worth the kerfuffle? Does there exist a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Furthermore, can you really guarantee you will arise feeling better, rather than worse?

Understanding The Reasons for Napping

“Experts note three key drivers for daytime sleep for many people,” notes a leading sleep science professor. “Firstly, there's termed make-up sleep, which is what you do following poor sleep the previous night. The second is preparatory napping, which involves preparing for insufficient sleep ahead, for example during overnight shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply boils down to wanting: you have a moment to doze in the afternoon, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”

The primary task to do, so, is to examine your nap motivation. “Naps can be really helpful when overnight rest gets interrupted due to causes you cannot change – for instance, if you’re caring for an infant, or if you are healing from illness or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep specialist. “However, if you take a nap since your night sleep seems unreliable or unreliable, that’s often a sign your sleep drive is not where required. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Employ naps as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the priority should still be a robust and regular overnight rest.”

The Optimal Nap Duration

Therefore that napping must not be sufficiently lengthy to affect your sleep at night, and preferably are not recommended after about 3pm (contingent on what time you retire overnight). What's a reasonable length? Advice differs. From the most-cited studies about napping, space agency scientists discovered that space travelers had a boost of up to 54% in alertness plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (to be precise, this involved a six-minute long sleep onset time). “I’d suggest using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – many individuals doze off within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “There is plenty of guidance out there regarding the perfect length for sleeping, however, that can make people feel more anxious than anything else – and the worst thing you can do when trying to fall asleep is worry about it.”

Should you decide to sleep for longer, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling when you awaken. “Studies indicates it is preferable to opt for a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” notes the expert. “Forty-five minutes is enough time to send you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel groggy when you get up – whereas if you take it slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be on the end of a sleep cycle and should awaken feeling more alert. Though if you’re sleeping for 90 minutes, it can influence your sleep that night.”

Creating the Right Nap Environment

Regarding precise methods, advice differs. A few professionals recommend adopting the same protocol you use to encourage restful sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that it's fine to merely snooze on a couch with ambient lighting happens to be around – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to preserve your bed as the environment your brain links with *real* sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to force,” notes a sleep coach. “Lacking the urge to sleep, it is tougher to get comfortable and essentially instruct yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some drive there to bring the sleep on initially. Personally, I can often snooze in full light and naturally wake up without an alarm, but what helps many individuals is to wait for a time that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and just gently ease into sleep.”

Experimentation is key, and when your choices are limited – such as, if you’re trying to fit in a quick nap while traveling or at the office – there’s nothing wrong to use sleep aids. “Coaching footballers, I recommend that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will