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Tune into plenty of productivity podcasters, and you'll be tempting to think that dozing is a powerful tool: more than a quick fix following restless night, but a route towards a better memory, better spirits and perhaps improved athletic performance. Professional athletes do it regularly – along with musicians, fighters & media moguls. Yet, when you don't have a special sleep space or employment that permits daytime sleep, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a short sleep for it to be worth the effort? Does there exist a surefire technique to get to sleep quickly enough? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you will get up feeling improved, rather than worse?

Identifying The Reasons for Napping

“There are three key drivers for daytime sleep among most adults,” explains an expert sleep and circadian science researcher. “Firstly, there's known as compensatory napping, essentially what you do when you’ve had poor sleep the night before. The second is pre-emptive sleep, which involves anticipating insufficient sleep in the future, such as during graveyard shifts. The third is called “appetitive drive”, which simply is about desire: you have a moment to doze in the daytime, and it's pleasant to nap.”

The primary task to consider, therefore, is consider why you want to nap. “Naps can be truly beneficial when night sleeping gets interrupted because of factors beyond your control – for instance, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering from illness or strenuous activity,” says a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you’re napping because your nighttime sleep is unstable or broken, that is frequently a sign your need for sleep is not as strong as it needs to be. In such situations, daytime sleep can turn into part of the issue, not the solution. Employ naps as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the priority must always be a solid and consistent sleep at night.”

The Optimal Nap Duration

Therefore that napping must not be too extended to interfere with your overnight rest, and preferably should not occur in the late afternoon (depending on when you retire overnight). What duration is wise? Advice differs. From the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa noted that crew members experienced a boost of up to 54% in attentiveness plus a 34% rise in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this counted an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “I recommend setting an alarm for half an hour or less – many individuals are asleep quickly,” explains a sleep expert. “There is plenty of recommendations regarding the ideal number of time, yet that often make people feel more anxious than anything – and the most counterproductive thing you can do while aiming to nod off is worry about it.”

If you plan to take an extended nap, bypass the period between 45 and 60 minutes that induces sleep grogginess, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “The science indicates it is preferable to opt for a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” says the sleep scientist. “45 minutes is long enough to send you into slow-wave sleep and you’re more likely to feel sluggish upon awakening – whereas if you nap for slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end of a sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more rejuvenated. But if you nap for 90 minutes, it can influence the quality of your sleep that night.”

Creating the Right Sleep Space

As for precise methods, advice differs. Certain specialists recommend using similar routines you use to encourage a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to simply nap in a chair with ambient lighting happens to be around – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to maintain your bedroom as the place you associate with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to command,” says a sleep coach. “Lacking the urge to sleep, it is tougher to get comfortable and practically instruct yourself to go to sleep. There’s got to be some sleep pressure available to initiate sleep initially. Personally, I can often snooze during the day and awaken on my own alarm-free, but what helps a lot of people is to anticipate a moment where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply allow sleep to come.”

Trying different approaches is valuable, and when options are scarce – for example, if attempting to squeeze in 40 winks on a train or in a work pod – it's acceptable to employ sleep aids. “Coaching elite athletes, I suggest that they don’t get used to napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will