How to take a perfect nap

A former boss once assigned me to the only office on our floor with a column right in the middle. She apologized, but I quickly realized my advantage. By positioning my desk behind this monstrosity, I could take a post-lunch nap undetected, with my head tilted toward the computer screen in case someone walked in. These secret naps had less to do with laziness than with productivity. They transformed me from a lunch-laden zombie to a fully functional human – and a better employee.

Not everyone is lucky enough to have a personal nap column. But the stigma surrounding napping in American workplaces is slowly changingin light of the growing recognition that sleep (even daytime sleep) can help productivity. One in five Americans now take a nap at work. “Naps may be where nighttime sleep was 25 years ago,” says writer Daniel Pink, author of WHEN: The scientific secrets of the perfect moment, which extols the virtues of napping. Some employers are realizing that “maybe napping isn’t a sign of weakness,” says Pink.

In fact, research suggests that a workday nap builds several strengths, including brain health. In your early 20s, your brain begins to shrink, which increases your risk of dementia and slows cognition. During naps, however, brain size is better preserved, according to this 2023 study, possibly because naps can reduce anxiety. “We are not sure of the mechanisms, but there is a strong link between stress and dementia,” says Victoria Garfield, a genetic epidemiologist at the University of Liverpool and co-author of the paper. Research also shows that napping supports heart health and stimulates knowledgecreativity and memory.

Here’s how to perfect your nap to reap the benefits.

Enjoy day diving

It’s important to take a nap when you start to get tired, but well before dark, so you don’t steal any zzzIt’s from your nighttime sleep. For most people, this Goldilocks zone is from 1pm to 4pm. “This is when we have a natural drop in our alertness,” says Charlene Gamaldo, professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

You can get the most benefit from naps when they’re done consistently—daily, if possible—and at the same time every afternoon, give or take 30 minutes, says Gamaldo. This way, you’re more likely to actually sleep through your nap and fall asleep again later that night, as our bodies come to expect this routine. “We are rhythmic animals”, he says Sara Mednick, sleep researcher at the University of California, Irvine. “Whenever you are learning an activity, doing it regularly helps.” And the benefits of a daily nap are cumulative for brain health, whereas any one nap has a small effect, says Garfield.

You can also take a nap before making an important choice. “Naps help us solve problems and make better decisions,” says Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO of Thrive Global and author of The sleep revolution. “They are a tool that every leader should use when necessary.”

Find your magic window

Gamaldo recommends napping for 20 to 40 minutes, which can improve cognitive function and performance. It will be a satisfying nap, but short enough to avoid deep sleep, which is harder to wake up. She calls this length the “magic” window.

see more information: 4 signs your body is telling you it’s time to take a break

Some to look for Aim for shorter naps, 15 to 20 minutes. The right length may depend on your level of fatigue and unique way your brain shuts down for sleep, Garfield adds.

Mednick thinks napping more during the day is underrated. If you rest during the deep sleep stage, your brain will return to lighter sleep after about 60 minutes. At this point, waking up is easier, you will feel more rested with better emotional control, and you won’t sacrifice any sleep later. “When people regularly take longer naps, their nighttime sleep is similar to that of people who don’t sleep at all,” says Mednick—so the extra rest is a bonus, rather than detracting from nighttime sleep. She suggests increasing the duration gradually over several weeks to get used to it.

Relax before resting

Pre-game your naps with progressive muscle relaxation can to improve the quality of your rest. The technique involves contracting and relaxing muscles throughout your body while focusing on your breathing.

Autogenic meditation is another approach that can serve as a useful warm-up for nap, says Mednick. With this type of meditation, you evoke mental images that induce feelings of peace, such as heaviness in your limbs, aiming to de-stressing the nervous system. “These are ways to slow down your physiology to help you access a deeply restorative state,” says Mednick, author The power of the interior of the state.

Delphine Oudiette, a neuroscientist who researches sleep, dreams and creativity at Paris Brain Institute, recommends experimenting with different strategies and deadlines over a weekend. “Just see if you feel regenerated or not,” she says.

Build a sleeping pod

Take pride in cultivating the perfect environment for daytime rejuvenation. Many veteran nappers have a dedicated sleeping couch, which their bodies learn to associate with daytime sleep. Pink wears a sleep mask, earplugs, and sometimes headphones about the earplugs. “It’s my poor man’s sleeping capsule,” he explains. “I like total immersion.” Gamaldo advises his patients to “simulate a cool, dark cave.”

You may prefer to nap under soft light so that your body feels like it is still daytime, making the nap less intrusive during nighttime sleep. Most importantly, keep the environment consistent if possible, whether it’s on the couch, in the car, or in the cubicle. “You want similar cues around you every time,” says Mednick.

see more information: Do less. It’s good for you

Adam Horowitz, a cognitive scientist and visiting researcher at Outer Coast College who focuses on sleep and dreams, plays recordings of thunderstorms as an audio cue that it’s time to sleep, but you can learn to associate just about any soundtrack with napping. Horowitz used to play his ukulele before bed, he told me—and yawned at the thought.

Clear your snooze area of ​​any gadgets that are buzzing with afternoon notifications, advises Huffington. At Thrive Global, she encourages employees to use a designated room for sleeping.

Before putting the phone away, however, Huffington uses it to touch her Thrive Redefine (Thrive platform tool) with photos, music and quotes that bring calm and joy when breathing deeply. “Just 60 seconds of breathing has a dramatic effect” in reducing fight-or-flight mode while stimulating nap mode, she says.

Caffeine before nap

Before you take a nap, set yourself up for success later. It seems counterintuitive, but drinking coffee beforehand can refresh you when you wake up (especially if combined with lively wake up music). Metabolizing caffeine takes about 30 minutes, the length of a nap, so your rested feeling when you wake up will be amplified by the dose of caffeine, according to some to look for. Pink goes one step further: drinking coffee right after wake up, besides before. “I admit that I work both sides,” he says. (Experiment to find what works best for you: Avoid afternoon coffee if it disrupts your nighttime sleep.)

Instead of planning for a burst of energy when you wake up, you can just try to make sure you can sleep through your nap. Teas with ginseng, blue lotus, or mugwort can help induce drowsiness, says Horowitz, although the effects vary from person to person. Avoid spicy foods and sugary carbohydrates; acid reflux and drops in blood glucose do not make for a pleasant awakening.

Hack your creativity

New research on naps points to an old creativity trick: Thomas Edison liked to hold a steel ball while he napped. While he was dozing, the ball fell and hit the ground. The sound woke him up in a dream state, providing unique windows into his subconscious that awakened new ideas. Oudiette, researcher in Paris, studied this strategy in modern naps. She discovered that falling asleep for just 15 seconds before the ball dropped tripled her chances of solving a math problem that required creative vision.

see more information: Why Your Breakfast Should Start With Vegetables

But you may not need the ball trick. Just napping with an alarm set for 60 minutes or a little longer leads to a 40% increase in creativity, Mednick discovered. “There’s a space between wakefulness and deep sleep where these interesting ideas are floating around and we can maneuver in there,” she says. An amateur musician, Mednick had recently been struggling to write a song. Just before bed, she reviewed the elements she wanted to include. After she got up, the music started flowing.

In a study last year, Horowitz tested his own technology to nurture sleep-related creativity. As study participants fell asleep, this device verbally encouraged them to dream about trees. Post-nap, they wrote more creative stories on trees, compared to control groups. Napping opens up useful distance between you and the problem you’re working on, similar to gaining insights after a walk or shower—but napping is “an intensified form of mind wandering,” says Horowitz. .

Rest to learn and learn to rest

Studies show that naps can increase memory and learning, regardless of how often you take them. Gamaldo recommends naps when studying for college exams. Reviewing the test materials and then taking a nap will “cement your knowledge,” she advises, especially if you revisit the information after waking up. Naps also help remembering learned skills.

Not everyone needs to take a nap. Not Oudiette. “When I’m tired, I like to close my eyes,” she says. “It’s useful even for two minutes.” The most important thing is to take time to rest, no matter what. “You could lie down and look at the ceiling,” she says, “but you’re not on your laptop or your phone.