While small children typically take naps nearly every day, the decades that follow involve less frequent and shorter naps, if any at all, until they begin to peak again after the age of 55. However, many people experience a natural increase in drowsiness in the afternoon, about 8 hours after waking. Research shows that you can feel refreshed and alert with a little nap built into your day.
A mid-day snooze or a ‘power nap’ has been linked with a multitude of benefits including reduced feelings of stress, improved focus and memory, and better health. Here’s what you need to know about the benefits of napping, how long a nap should be, and how a power nap can help you!
How Much Sleep Do You Need?
Most experts agree that the average adult body needs 7-9 hours of sleep per day, depending on personal and genetic factors.However, more than one-third of Americans sleep less than 7 hours per night.
The Effects of Missed Sleep
Whether it is a snoring sleep partner, a crying baby, a late night of studying, or binge-watching your favorite show, sleep deprivation occurs when you sleep less than 6 hours. Sleep deprivation is also cumulative; if you lose sleep one day, you will likely feel it the next day, but if you are not getting enough sleep several days in a row, you build up a ‘sleep debt.’ This sleep debt can impair cognitive functioning, work performance, mood, and overall health.
Cognitive Functioning
Major human errors have occurred due to sleep deprivation including nuclear reactor meltdowns, grounding of large ships, and plane crashes. Some research shows that6 hours of sleep or less increases your risk of a car accident by 33% and sleeping less than 5 hours increases your risk by 47%. Further, missing sleep for a period of 24 hours is equivalent to having a blood alcohol level of 0.1% which is past the legal limit.
These accidents and injuries occur because sleep deprivation can have immediate and long-term effects on cognitive functioning, including:
- Information processing
- Reaction time
- Judgment
- Short-term and long-term memory
- Vigilance
Mood
Fatigued people may also experience more feelings of stress, irritability, and anger. It can take a toll on our motivation and can lead to other mental health problems like burnout, depression, anxiety, aggression, and substance abuse.
Health
People who haven't slept enough tend to have more headaches, diminished immune functioning, and increased food cravings leading to weight gain. Over time, research shows that the physiological effects of sleep debt can lead to more serious health problems like high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and kidney disease.
The Benefits of Napping
The body seems to be designed for napping, as most people’s bodies naturally become more tired in the afternoon, about 8 hours after we wake up. That urge to snooze in the afternoon is called sleep drive. This is due to the buildup of a chemical in the brain known as adenosine. Interestingly, caffeine blocks adenosine receptors in the brain, which allows our brain to stay awake and alert after a cup of coffee.
The longer you are awake, the more adenosine accumulates in your brain, increasing the feeling of pressure to sleep. Sleeping allows the brain to recycle the built-up adenosine so we can feel refreshed and alert.
How Long Should I Sleep?
Understanding the perfect length of a nap requires a bit of knowledge about the sleep cycle. As you sleep, you pass through different stages of sleep, known collectively as a sleep cycle. These stages involve three stages going from light sleep into deep sleep (which is believed to be the stage in which the body repairs itself). There is also rapid-eye-movement sleep, or REM sleep (during which most dreaming takes place).
It takes approximately 90 minutes to proceed through one cycle of sleep, typically ending in REM sleep, and maybe a brief awakening, before you start the cycle again. You should do this five to six times per night for an average of 7 to 9 hours of sleep.
Perhaps you didn't get enough sleep last night, or your sleep was interrupted affecting the quality of your deep restorative sleep. And maybe this happens night after night. If you are not getting enough quality or quantity of sleep, you are probably paying for it. Research shows that naps can help pay off your sleep debt and leave you feeling refreshed and alert to get you through the rest of your day.
The question is: How long should you nap for the most benefit? Research at NASA showed when pilots slept for 26 minutes, alertness improved by 54%, and job performance improved by 34% compared to pilots who didn’t nap. They also found that power naps eliminated microsleeps, which is the tendency to nod off (while flying!). Ultimately, NASA recommends a 10-20-minute nap to avoid falling into deep sleep.
Many experts advise keeping your nap around 10-20 minutes, known as the power nap. Shift workers, NASA pilots, and elite athletes appreciate enhanced performance and recovery after short naps.
Nap with caution. Naps longer than 30 minutes run the risk of getting you into deeper stages of sleep, from which it’s more difficult to awaken and you may feel groggy when this stage is interrupted (this is known as sleep inertia). Long naps can also make it more difficult to fall asleep at night or reduce the quality of your night sleep, especially if your sleep deficit is relatively small. Not getting the right balance of sleep can lead to insomnia and other sleep disorders.
The 20-minute power nap is highly encouraged for anyone who can do it, and it will not disrupt your sleep at night. On the other hand, research has shown that a 60-to 90-minute nap has even more restorative effects than a power nap, because of the numerous benefits of deep sleep. The key to taking a longer nap is to get a sense of how long your sleep cycles are and try to awaken at the end of a complete sleep cycle, preferably right after a pleasant dream.
Every individual is different and there are pros and cons to each length of sleep. You may want to let your schedule and your body decide: if you only have 15 minutes to spare, take them! But if you could work in a 60-90-minute nap, you may do well to complete a whole sleep cycle. If you wake up feeling disoriented and groggy, you might need to hit the snooze button to make sure you complete that sleep cycle.
If you only have 5 minutes to spare, just close your eyes; even a brief rest has the benefit of reducing stress and helping you relax a little, which can give you more energy to complete the tasks of your day.
Tips For a More Effective Nap
If you want to obtain more sleep and the health benefits that go with getting enough sleep, here are some tips for more effective napping and sleep at night:
- Avoid caffeine after 3 p.m. It’s a stimulant that can disrupt your sleep and stay in your system longer than you think; its half-life is four to six hours!
- If you don’t want to nap for a long time, set an alarm.
- If you don’t have time for a power nap or don’t feel comfortable napping during the day, try meditation; it gives your body a rest and produces slower brain waves similar to light sleep.
