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Hear plenty of productivity podcasters, making it easy to believe that a nap is a superpower: more than a sticking plaster after restless night, but a route towards enhanced cognition, better spirits and maybe improved athletic performance. Elite soccer players do it regularly – along with professional piano players, fighters and high-profile executives. But if you lack a dedicated nap-room or a career that encourages frequent naps, are there *really* enough benefits to a burst of shut-eye to merit the hassle? Is there a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, rather than worse?

Exploring Your Drive to Snooze

“There are three primary motivations for napping for many people,” notes a professor of sleep science professor. “The first is termed compensatory napping, essentially what you do after experiencing a lack of sleep the previous night. The second is preparatory napping, where you are anticipating a sleep deficit ahead, such as during graveyard shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially is about the wish: you get an opportunity to nap in the daytime, and it feels nice to do it.”

The primary task to undertake, therefore, is to think about why you want to nap. “Naps can be really helpful when overnight rest is being disrupted due to causes outside your control – such as, for caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from illness or strenuous activity,” says a sleep expert. “But if you’re napping since your sleep at night seems unreliable or broken, that is frequently a signal your need for sleep is not as strong as it should be. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, rather than the answer. Use napping as a short-term solution for temporary issues – the focus ought to remain a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”

The Optimal Snooze Time

Therefore that napping must not be long enough to interfere with your sleep at night, and ideally are not recommended post-3 p.m. (contingent on when you retire overnight). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. In one of a prominent study on the subject, experts discovered that crew members had improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% boost in performance following a nap of 26 minutes (to be precise, this involved a six-minute long falling asleep phase). “My advice is setting an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – most people fall asleep quickly,” notes a specialist. “You'll find much guidance out there regarding the optimal amount for sleeping, yet that often lead individuals to become more stressed than anything – and the least helpful action you can do when trying to get to sleep is worry about it.”

Should you decide to sleep for longer, avoid the 45-60 minute window that induces sleep grogginess, that foggy state when you wake. “Research indicates it’s better to opt for a longer nap of one to one and a half hours rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is long enough to put you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel groggy when you get up – however, if you extend it a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to be on the end a full cycle and are likely to get up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you nap for an hour and a half, it will affect the quality of your sleep in the evening.”

Finding the Perfect Snooze Setting

When it comes to exact methodologies, suggestions are diverse. A few professionals propose using the same protocol one would use to promote restful sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and as much darkness as is feasible. Some advise that it's fine to just doze on a couch with ambient lighting is available – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to preserve your bedroom as the space you associate with *real* sleep. “Sleep is notoriously difficult to command,” notes a sleep coach. “Without any drowsiness, it is tougher to get comfortable and practically tell yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some drive present to initiate sleep initially. Personally, I can often snooze during the day and naturally wake up alarm-free, though, what aids many individuals is to look for an instance when they are naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly ease into sleep.”

It’s worth experimenting, and when you have few options – for instance, if you’re trying to fit in a quick nap while traveling or at the office – it's acceptable to use a few tools. “In my work with footballers, I advise that they not rely on napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will