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Hear enough self-improvement experts, and you'll be tempting to convince yourself that dozing is a powerful tool: more than a sticking plaster after a bad night’s sleep, but a path to enhanced cognition, improved mood and perhaps quicker running times. Professional soccer players do it regularly – as do musicians, fighters and media moguls. However, if you lack a dedicated nap-room or a career that encourages daytime sleep, can there *honestly* worthwhile perks to a quick nap to merit the kerfuffle? Does there exist a surefire technique to nod off promptly? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling improved, instead of groggy?

Understanding The Drive to Snooze

“There are three primary motivations for daytime sleep among most adults,” notes an expert sleep and circadian science researcher. “Firstly, there's termed recovery napping, essentially the action you take after experiencing poor sleep the previous night. Another is pre-emptive sleep, where you are preparing for sleep loss coming up, for instance if you’re working on night shifts. The third reason is “pleasure-based sleep”, which simply comes down to desire: you have a moment to sleep during the day, and it's pleasant to do it.”

The first thing to consider, so, is to think about your nap motivation. “Daytime sleep can be truly beneficial when night sleeping gets interrupted for reasons outside your control – for example, if you’re caring for an infant, or if you are healing from illness or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep expert. “Yet when you take a nap since your nighttime sleep seems unreliable or broken, that’s often an indicator your body's sleep pressure is not at the level it should be. In such situations, napping can become part of the issue, not the solution. Employ naps as a temporary measure to address immediate needs – the priority must always be a robust and regular night’s sleep.”

The Perfect Nap Duration

This implies that napping ought not to be too extended to affect your nighttime sleep, and best shouldn’t take place in the late afternoon (depending on the time you retire in the evening). What duration is wise? Recommendations vary. Among a prominent study about napping, experts discovered that crew members showed up to a 54% increase in vigilance plus a 34% rise in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this included an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I recommend setting a timer for half an hour or less – the majority fall asleep within 10 minutes,” notes a sleep coach. “You'll find much guidance out there regarding the optimal amount for sleeping, but that tends to lead individuals to become more stressed above all – and the least helpful action you can possibly do when trying to nod off is to be anxious.”

If you plan to take an extended nap, steer clear of the 45 to 60 minute range that induces that sluggish feeling, that disoriented sensation when you wake. “The science indicates it is preferable to take an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes than a medium-length one,” notes the professor. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to plunge you into deep sleep and you’re more likely to feel groggy upon awakening – whereas if you take it a little longer to a full sleep cycle, you’re likely to be on the end of a sleep cycle and will probably get up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it can influence your sleep in the evening.”

Finding the Perfect Nap Environment

Regarding exact methodologies, advice differs. Certain specialists suggest using comparable habits you use to promote a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as is feasible. Some advise that one could merely snooze in a chair with ambient lighting is present – to prevent sleep inertia and to maintain your bed as the place you associate with *real* sleep. “Sleep is quite challenging to will,” explains an expert. “Lacking any drowsiness, it becomes harder to lie down and basically tell yourself to go to sleep. There must be some drive there to start the process to begin with. Personally, I can often nap in full light and wake up naturally alarm-free, though, what aids most folks is to anticipate a moment that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly allow sleep to come.”

It’s worth experimenting, and should you have few options – for instance, if attempting to grab a quick nap during a commute or at the office – it's acceptable with bringing sleep aids. “Coaching elite athletes, I suggest that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will