How to have the perfect nap, according to a sleep doctor

Sleep tight

If you avoid naps out of fear you’ll wake up feeling more tired than you did pre-nap, you’re in luck. One sleep expert has shared his tricks to ensure you have the perfect nap and wake up refreshed every time.

Anyone who has laid down for a nap knows it’s often like a game of Russian roulette. You may wake up feeling refreshed, well rested and destressed, or you can just as easily wake up feeling irritable and sleepy enough to believe you haven’t slept for a week.

Many experts and seasoned nappers spruik their ‘foolproof’ advice and tips to nap and feel well-rested every time. 

Some say a pre-lunch time nap is ideal, others say the late afternoon, some say your naps need to be longer, while others insist you should drink coffee or an energy drink shortly before napping to make sure you’re not out for too long. It gets hard to keep up. 

According to one sleep doctor, there actually is a pretty close-to-perfect nap formula.

The perfect nap time

We already know sleep is extremely important for our overall health. Director of the Institute of Sleep Medicine at Northwell Staten Island University Hospital, Thomas Michael Kilkenny said not getting enough sleep “has significant negative effects on feelings of sleepiness, motor and mental performance and mood, as well as on metabolic, hormonal and immunological function.”

Sleep researcher and PhD candidate Alexandra Shriane told SBS it’s "safe to assume that the majority of Australian adults aren't getting enough quality sleep". And according to Finder, close to three in four Australians struggle to get a good night’s sleep.

Kilkenny shared the ‘magic number of minutes’ to nap with the New York Post, advising that “naps should be relatively short, lasting no more than 20-30 minutes”. 

We already know sleep is extremely important for our overall health. Image: Unsplash

“Shorter naps of around 10 minutes can also be helpful”, he said.

That feeling of waking up and feeling even more tired than you did pre-nap has a name too – inertia. 

Kilkenny described it as feeling disoriented, moody, irritable, forgetful, off balance or struggling to communicate, and said “sleeping longer can trigger the effects of sleep inertia.”

There are five stages of sleep: wake, stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, and REM. The sleep medicine specialist said if we want to avoid waking up exhausted, we should aim to finish our nap at stage 2 or ‘non-REM’. 

This stage, usually entered within the first 30–40 minutes of falling asleep, involves deep resting without rapid eye movement (REM), dreaming, or body movements. 

This stage, usually entered within the first 30–40 minutes of falling asleep, involves deep resting without rapid eye movement (REM), dreaming, or body movements.

In addition to restoring our minds and bodies, Kilkenny said shorter naps can suppress sleep inertia. Whereas entering the next stage of sleep can make it feel harder to wake up and get up.

On top of the length of your nap, the sleep doctor noted other aspects of your rest can impact how easily you wake up.

“The negative effects of prolonged napping can depend on nap duration, amount of prior sleep deprivation, and the time of day when napping occurs.” 

According to meditation and sleep app Calm, we should try to time our naps to start between 1pm and 3pm, as we’re likely to ‘hit a slump’ around these times thanks to our circadian rhythms.

Originally published as How to have the perfect nap, according to a sleep doctor