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Listen to a few productivity gurus, making it tempting to think that napping is a secret weapon: rather than a band-aid after restless night, but a path towards a better memory, better spirits and possibly improved athletic performance. Elite footballers swear by it – along with professional piano players, UFC champions and high-profile executives. However, if you don't have a special sleep space or a job that allows frequent naps, is it *truly* sufficient advantages to a burst of shut-eye for it to be worth the hassle? Is there a surefire technique to nod off promptly? Plus, is it possible to truly ensure you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, rather than worse?

Understanding The Drive to Snooze

“We can identify three primary motivations for napping in the adult population,” explains a professor of sleep and circadian science researcher. “One is termed compensatory napping, which is what you do following insufficient sleep overnight. Another is pre-emptive sleep, when you are pre-empting a sleep deficit ahead, such as if you’re working on night shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which simply boils down to wanting: you get a chance to doze in the afternoon, and it's enjoyable to indulge.”

The first thing to do, therefore, is consider your reason for napping. “Napping can be truly beneficial when overnight rest is being disrupted due to causes beyond your control – for example, if you’re a parent of a newborn, or recovering from sickness or heavy physical exertion,” says a sleep specialist. “Yet when you take a nap since your night sleep feels fragile or unreliable, that can be a sign your need for sleep is not at the level required. Under those circumstances, naps can become part of the issue, rather than the answer. Employ naps as a temporary measure for temporary issues – the focus should still be a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”

The Perfect Snooze Time

This means that napping ought not to be too extended to interfere with your overnight rest, and ideally should not occur post-3 p.m. (contingent on the time you sleep overnight). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. In one of the most referenced research regarding daytime sleep, experts found that crew members had a boost of up to 54% in vigilance and a 34% increase in cognitive performance after a 26-minute nap (in detail, this counted a six-minute long sleep onset time). “My advice is using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – the majority are asleep within 10 minutes,” says a specialist. “There’s a lot of guidance out there concerning the optimal amount of time, yet that often lead individuals to become more anxious than anything – and the worst thing you can possibly do while aiming to fall asleep is to be anxious.”

If you’re going to sleep for longer, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that encourages sleep grogginess, that foggy state when you wake. “The science suggests it’s better to opt for a lengthier snooze lasting 60-90 minutes than a medium-length one,” notes the sleep scientist. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to plunge you into deep sleep and it is more probable to feel sluggish when you get up – whereas if you take it a little longer to an hour or 90 minutes, it's likely you'll to be on the end of a sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more rejuvenated. But if you’re sleeping for a long period, it can influence your sleep that night.”

Creating an Ideal Sleep Space

As for specific techniques, recommendations vary. Certain specialists recommend employing comparable habits you’d use to foster a good night’s sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and minimal light as is feasible. Some advise that you should merely snooze on the sofa with ambient lighting is available – to avoid post-nap grogginess and to maintain your bedroom as the place your brain links with proper sleep. “Napping is notoriously difficult to command,” says a sleep coach. “Lacking any sleepiness, it is tougher to recline and essentially command yourself to nod off. There’s got to be some sleep pressure there to bring the sleep on to begin with. Personally, I can often snooze in broad daylight and naturally wake up without a timer, though, what aids many individuals is to wait for an instance where they feel naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply allow sleep to come.”

Experimentation is key, and if options are scarce – for example, if you’re trying to grab a quick nap during a commute or at the office – there’s nothing wrong to employ sleep aids. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I advise that they not rely on their own bed for naps, since they’re going to have|they will