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Tune into enough performance podcasters, and it’s easy to believe that napping is a powerful tool: rather than a quick fix after a bad night’s sleep, but a shortcut to a better memory, a brighter outlook and possibly quicker running times. Professional soccer players swear by it – and so are professional piano players, UFC champions & media moguls. Yet, when you lack a dedicated nap-room or a career that allows daytime sleep, are there *really* sufficient advantages to a quick nap for it to be worth the hassle? Is there a surefire technique to nod off promptly? And can you honestly promise you will arise feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?

Understanding Your Nap Motivation

“There are three primary motivations for napping among most adults,” says an expert sleep and circadian science professor. “One is termed make-up sleep, which is what you do when you’ve had poor sleep overnight. Another is preparatory napping, which involves anticipating sleep loss in the future, for instance if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third is called “hedonic napping”, which simply boils down to wanting: you have a chance to sleep in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”

The primary task to consider, therefore, is consider your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be genuinely useful when overnight rest is being disrupted for reasons beyond your control – for example, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or you’re recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep expert. “However, if you take a nap since your sleep at night is unstable or unreliable, that is frequently an indicator your need for sleep is not as strong as it needs to be. In such situations, naps can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a short-term solution for short-term problems – the focus should still be a strong and predictable overnight rest.”

The Perfect Nap Length

This means that daytime sleep ought not to be too extended to interfere with your nighttime sleep, and ideally shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (depending on the time you retire in the evening). How long is sensible? Recommendations vary. Among the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, experts discovered that crew members showed improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% boost in cognitive performance following a nap of 26 minutes (technically, this counted a six-minute nodding-off period). “My advice is setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – most people are asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a specialist. “There’s a lot of advice around concerning the ideal number of minutes, however, that can cause people to feel more worried above all – and the most counterproductive thing one can do while aiming to get to sleep is worry about it.”

If you plan to take an extended nap, avoid the period between 45 and 60 minutes that encourages sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation upon waking. “The science suggests it’s better to have a longer nap of one to one and a half hours compared to a medium-length nap,” says the expert. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to plunge you into slow-wave sleep making it more likely to feel sluggish when you get up – while if you take it a bit longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to be completing a full cycle and are likely to wake up feeling more alert. However, if you nap for a long period, it can influence how you sleep later that night.”

Creating the Perfect Nap Environment

When it comes to precise methods, advice differs. A few professionals recommend using comparable habits you use to foster restful sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and as much darkness as possible. Others suggest that you should merely snooze on a couch in whatever light is present – both to discourage sleep inertia and to maintain your bed as the space your mind associates with proper sleep. “Sleep is notoriously difficult to will,” says a sleep coach. “Lacking the urge to sleep, it is tougher to lie down and essentially tell yourself to go to sleep. There must be some sleep pressure there to initiate sleep initially. I can usually take a nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up without a timer, but what helps many individuals is to look for a time that they’re naturally slightly tired and just gently relax into it.”

It’s worth experimenting, and when options are scarce – for instance, if you’re trying to fit in 40 winks on a train or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable to use a few tools. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I suggest that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will