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Hear plenty of productivity podcasters, making it tempting to convince yourself that dozing is a powerful tool: not just a band-aid after a bad night’s sleep, but a route towards improved recall, better spirits and possibly improved athletic performance. Elite athletes do it regularly – along with professional piano players, UFC champions and high-profile executives. Yet, when you haven’t got a room for napping or employment that permits daytime sleep, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a quick nap to justify the kerfuffle? Can you find a reliable way to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you will get up feeling refreshed, rather than worse?

Identifying Your Nap Motivation

“We can identify three main reasons for daytime sleep among most adults,” says an expert circadian rhythm professor. “Firstly, there's termed compensatory napping, essentially the action you take following insufficient sleep the night before. The second is prophylactic napping, when you are anticipating a sleep deficit ahead, for instance if you’re working on night shifts. Finally, there's “hedonic napping”, which essentially comes down to desire: there is an opportunity to nap during the day, and it feels nice to do it.”

The first thing to do, then, is consider why you want to nap. “Naps can be genuinely useful when night sleeping gets interrupted because of factors you cannot change – such as, when you are caring for an infant, or recovering from sickness or intense exercise,” says a sleep physiologist. “Yet when you’re napping since your sleep at night is unstable or broken, that can be a signal your need for sleep is not as strong as it needs to be. In such situations, napping can become part of the issue, instead of the fix. Use napping for brief periods for temporary issues – the focus ought to remain a strong and predictable overnight rest.”

The Optimal Snooze Time

This means that daytime sleep must not be too extended to disrupt your overnight rest, and preferably shouldn’t take place post-3 p.m. (contingent on when you retire in the evening). What duration is wise? Advice differs. Among the most-cited studies on the subject, researchers at Nasa noted that space travelers showed a boost of up to 54% in alertness and a 34% increase in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this involved a six-minute long sleep onset time). “My advice is setting a timer for half an hour or less – many individuals fall asleep within 10 minutes,” says a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of advice around concerning the ideal number of minutes, but that tends to cause people to feel more stressed than anything – and the worst thing one can do while aiming to get to sleep is worry about it.”

If you’re going to sleep for longer, bypass the 45 to 60 minute range that induces sleep inertia, that disoriented sensation when you awaken. “Research suggests it’s better to opt for an extended nap of 60 to 90 minutes rather than a mid-length nap,” explains the expert. “45 minutes is sufficient to put you into deep sleep and you’re more likely to feel disoriented when you wake up – whereas if you extend it slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you’re likely to be completing a full cycle and will probably awaken feeling more rejuvenated. However, if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it will affect how you sleep in the evening.”

Creating the Right Sleep Space

Regarding exact methodologies, advice differs. Some experts propose adopting the same protocol you use to foster quality nighttime sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and minimal light as you can manage. Some advise that one could simply nap on a couch in whatever light is available – to prevent post-nap grogginess and to “protect” your bedroom as the place you associate with proper sleep. “Falling asleep is something really tricky to will,” notes an expert. “Lacking any sleepiness, it becomes harder to recline and basically instruct yourself to go to sleep. There must be some sleep pressure there to start the process to begin with. Personally, I can often take a nap during the day and naturally wake up without an alarm, though, what aids a lot of people is to anticipate a moment when they are naturally slightly tired and just gently ease into sleep.”

It’s worth experimenting, and if options are scarce – such as, if attempting to squeeze in a quick nap while traveling or in a soundproof office pod – it's acceptable to employ some accessories. “When I’m working with footballers, I recommend that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, since they’re going to have|they will