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Listen to enough productivity podcasters, and it’s simple to convince yourself that dozing is a powerful tool: rather than a quick fix after restless night, but a route towards a better memory, a brighter outlook and perhaps quicker running times. Professional athletes swear by it – as do concert pianists, mixed martial artists and high-profile executives. Yet, when you haven’t got a dedicated nap-room or employment that permits frequent naps, can there *honestly* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the effort? Can you find a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? And can you honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling better, rather than worse?

Understanding The Nap Motivation

“We can identify three primary motivations for taking a nap in the adult population,” explains a professor of circadian rhythm specialist. “Firstly, there's termed compensatory napping, essentially what you do after experiencing a lack of sleep the night before. The second is preparatory napping, which involves pre-empting sleep loss coming up, for example if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply comes down to desire: you get an opportunity to doze in the daytime, and it's pleasant to indulge.”

The first thing to do, so, is to examine your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when nighttime sleep is disturbed for reasons you cannot change – such as, when you are a new parent, or recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” says a sleep specialist. “However, if you take a nap since your nighttime sleep feels fragile or unreliable, that is frequently a signal your sleep drive is not where it should be. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into a contributing factor, not the solution. Use napping as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the main goal must always be a robust and regular overnight rest.”

The Ideal Nap Length

This means that naps shouldn’t be too extended to affect your nighttime sleep, and best are not recommended post-3 p.m. (contingent on when you retire at night). What duration is wise? Advice differs. From the most-cited studies about napping, researchers at Nasa noted that crew members experienced improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% increase in task performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this included an initial six-minute nodding-off period). “I’d suggest using an alarm for half an hour or less – most people are asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep expert. “There is plenty of guidance out there concerning the optimal amount of time, but that tends to lead individuals to become more worried than anything – and the worst thing you can do while aiming to get to sleep is worry about it.”

Should you decide to take an extended nap, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that promotes sleep inertia, that spaced-out feeling upon waking. “Research suggests it’s better to have a longer nap lasting 60-90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the expert. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to send you into slow-wave sleep and it is more probable to feel groggy upon awakening – however, if you nap for slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to finish a natural sleep cycle and will probably get up feeling more alert. Though if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it can influence how you sleep in the evening.”

Establishing the Right Nap Environment

As for precise methods, recommendations vary. Some experts suggest using the same protocol you’d use to promote restful sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and as much darkness as is feasible. Others suggest that you should simply nap on the sofa in the existing light is available – to avoid sleep inertia and to maintain your bedroom as the place your mind associates with proper sleep. “Sleep is notoriously difficult to command,” notes a specialist. “Lacking any sleepiness, it is more challenging to recline and practically tell yourself to nod off. There must be some sleep pressure present to initiate sleep initially. For me, it's possible to snooze in broad daylight and wake up naturally alarm-free, but what helps many individuals is to wait for a time that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly relax into it.”

Trying different approaches is valuable, and when your choices are limited – for instance, if attempting to grab 40 winks during a commute or at the office – it is perfectly fine with bringing sleep aids. “Coaching professional sportspeople, I recommend that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will