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Listen to a few productivity gurus, making it simple to convince yourself that dozing is a secret weapon: more than a sticking plaster following restless night, but a path towards improved recall, improved mood and maybe quicker running times. Elite footballers are all at it – along with musicians, mixed martial artists and business leaders. Yet, when you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or employment that encourages daytime sleep, can there *honestly* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the effort? Is there a dependable method to nod off promptly? And can you truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling better, instead of groggy?

Identifying Your Nap Motivation

“We can identify three main reasons for taking a nap for many people,” notes a leading sleep and circadian science specialist. “Firstly, there's termed compensatory napping, that is what happens after experiencing a lack of sleep the night before. The second is pre-emptive sleep, which involves preparing for a sleep deficit in the future, for example during overnight shifts. Finally, there's “appetitive drive”, which essentially comes down to desire: you have an opportunity to sleep during the day, and it's enjoyable to nap.”

The first thing to do, therefore, is to think about your nap motivation. “Napping can be really helpful when overnight rest is being disrupted for reasons outside your control – for example, for a new parent, or recovering after being ill or intense exercise,” explains a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you’re napping because your sleep at night seems unreliable or unreliable, that’s often a signal your need for sleep is not as strong as required. In such situations, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, rather than the answer. Utilize daytime sleep for brief periods for temporary issues – the main goal ought to remain a strong and predictable sleep at night.”

The Ideal Nap Length

Therefore that daytime sleep shouldn’t be too extended to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and ideally shouldn’t take place after about 3pm (based on the time you sleep overnight). How long is sensible? Advice differs. In one of the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, researchers at Nasa discovered that astronauts had a boost of up to 54% in alertness and a 34% increase in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this involved a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “My advice is setting an alarm for 20-30 minutes – most people doze off within 10 minutes,” says a specialist. “There’s a lot of advice around regarding the ideal number of time, yet that often cause people to feel more stressed than anything – and the most counterproductive thing one 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 encourages sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “Research indicates it’s better to have a lengthier snooze of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” explains the sleep scientist. “Three-quarters of an hour is enough time to plunge you into a deep sleep stage and you’re more likely to feel sluggish upon awakening – however, if you take it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to be completing a natural sleep cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more refreshed. However, if you’re sleeping for a long period, it can influence the quality of your sleep later that night.”

Creating the Right Snooze Setting

As for exact methodologies, advice differs. Certain specialists suggest employing comparable habits you’d use to foster restful sleep: a peaceful area, a comfortable bed and as much darkness as possible. Others suggest that it's fine to just doze on a couch in the existing light is present – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bedroom as the environment you associate with *real* sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to force,” explains an expert. “If you don’t have any drowsiness, it is more challenging to lie down and essentially tell yourself to go to sleep. There must be some sleep pressure present to bring the sleep on initially. Personally, I can often take a nap in full light and naturally wake up alarm-free, however, what assists a lot of people is to anticipate an instance where they feel naturally slightly tired and then simply relax into it.”

It’s worth experimenting, and if your choices are limited – for example, if you’re trying to grab some shut-eye on a train or in a work pod – there’s nothing wrong to use some accessories. “Coaching footballers, I recommend that they don’t get used to napping in bed, since they’re going to have|they will