A stolen twenty minutes on the sofa, a full curtains-drawn commitment, or a strategic disco nap before a big night out – an afternoon spent horizontal always feels a little more indulgent than it should.
Taken from our book Homes for Living, this guide celebrates the underrated art of the daytime nap. It's about knowing your timing, choosing your location, and picking a duration to suit your level of sleepiness, so you can turn forty winks into something truly restorative.
The Art of the Perfect Nap
The concept of Piglet in Bed started with knowing the value of rest and good sleep. Sleeping in a peaceful environment, under natural, breathable fabrics, is the first building block to your overall wellbeing. We would like to spare a thought for the Daytime Nap: less talked about than its far more famous sibling, A Good Night’s Sleep, and much more indulgent.
People for whom sleeping in the day is a struggle often sneer at those of us who love a nap. They say it’s a waste of time or that they won’t be able to sleep at night or that (and it pains us even to say it) sleep is for the weak. To this we say, with love and the deepest respect, jog on. If you don’t love a little nap from time to time, then you are probably doing it wrong.
When planning a quick lie-down, grabbing forty winks, having a little napperoony, we must think of the following:
Time of Day
The optimal time to have a nap is in the middle of the afternoon, between 1–3pm. This is usually when you experience the biggest dip in your energy levels and the thought of being horizontal in bed is the most appealing.
An early-afternoon nap is least likely to interfere with your night-time sleep and will give you a boost in energy to keep you going until bedtime. The only exception to this is the disco nap, which is best taken in late afternoon to prepare you for a long and fun-filled night out. It is an excellent nap to have in the repertoire and one that has served us well over the years.
Location
Location will depend on your level of commitment to the nap. In bed, under the covers, with the curtains drawn, shows maximum commitment to sleep and signals to others in the house that this is a survival nap and must not be disturbed.
A sofa nap has the advantage of being spontaneous, with an added bonus of comfort if the television or radio is making soothing, low-level chatter in the background.
Duration
The 20-minute power nap is the nap that gets the most press, celebrated for its brevity and energy-boosting properties. Nap purists would argue that, while effective, it doesn’t provide quite the same level of cosiness and comfort that a longer nap would.
Anything up to 60 minutes allows more rest than a power nap without entering into a deep sleep phase, which can leave you groggy. A full sleep-cycle nap is about 90 minutes and allows for both deep and light sleep. It can improve memory, creativity and mood, though finding a spare hour and a half of an afternoon can be challenging to say the least.
The Golden Rules
Napping is serious business. Follow these golden rules to being a good napper and you can’t go wrong:
1. Nap with pride and don’t be persuaded to ‘just push through’.
2. Choose your nap judiciously based on the time you have versus your level of sleepiness.
3. Don’t be grumpy when you wake up. It cancels out the joy of the nap and will make everyone resent you for it.
4. Remember your essentials: cosy accessories are a must for the experienced napper. Reach for the item that, by its very presence, encourages sleep, whether it’s the cool side of your favourite pillow, the comfort of a chunky blanket or a soft throw hung on the back of the sofa.
