I should take a 20-minute nap every afternoon? Well, how am I supposed to manage that if it would take over an hour for me to fall asleep, assuming I'm able to do that at all?
I asked my doctor about how I can stop feeling tired all the time, and I had some problems falling asleep. He said that one of the biggest things about sleeping well is always waking around the same time. Basically, don't sleep in on weekends.
For a month or so I set an alarm every day, even on weekends (something like 7:30 on weekdays and 9:00 on weekends). After a while I would wake a bit before the alarm, and even on weekends I would wake normally around 8. It's been about 6 months since I reached this point and I do not need an alarm anymore, because I always wake up around the right time.
I do have a hard time staying up until 4 AM like I used to, but I feel well rested when I wake up (even if , due to going out, I stayed up exceptionally late), and I always wake up around the same time. I'm also now able to sleep on command, both at night, and in the middle of the afternoon I sometimes nap outside for 15 minutes or so.
your results may vary, but I've gotten a lot more control over my sleeping habits thanks to always waking up around the same time.
It's rare for me to take long to fall asleep. I can't say for sure how long it is, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was 10 minutes or less.
My problem with naps is that once I'm down, it's 3 hours. I used to be able to take 20 minute naps, but not anymore. If I take a nap, it's just about guaranteed to be 3 hours on the dot.