The secret to a perfect nap: when, where and for how long?

"The first is what we call compensatory napping, which is what you do when you've had insufficient sleep the night before. The second is prophylactic napping, where you are pre-empting insufficient sleep coming up, for instance if you're working on night shifts. The third is called appetitive drive, which basically comes down to desire: you have an opportunity to sleep during the day, and it feels nice to do it."

"Naps can be genuinely useful when night sleeping is being disrupted for reasons outside your control for instance, if you're a new parent, or you're recovering from illness or heavy physical exertion, says Stephanie Romiszewski, a sleep physiologist and author of Think Less, Sleep More. But if you're napping because your night sleep feels fragile or unreliable, that's often a sign your sleep drive is not where it needs to be. In those cases, naps can become part of the problem, not the solution."

There are three main motivations for adult napping: compensatory naps after insufficient night sleep, prophylactic naps to pre-empt upcoming sleep loss (for example before night shifts), and appetitive naps taken for pleasure when opportunity arises. Naps provide useful short-term recovery for situations such as new parenthood, illness, or heavy physical exertion. Habitual daytime napping to manage fragile nocturnal sleep often indicates a weakened sleep drive and can worsen nighttime sleep. Napping should be a temporary aid while prioritizing strong, predictable night sleep, and naps should be short enough not to interfere with nocturnal rest.

Read at www.theguardian.com