It sounds counterintuitive, but drinking coffee just before you nap can actually elevate napping benefits to a new level.
One study found that ingesting caffeine and taking a nap was the most effective tactic for decreasing subjective sleepiness and increasing performance on computer tasks—better than a nap followed by bright lights, a nap followed by face-washing, coffee by itself, or just the nap by itself!
This theory capitalizes on the fact that the effects of caffeine have a delayed onset: they peak within 15-120 minutes of ingestion.
Therefore, the coffee doesn’t keep you from falling asleep. Instead, it norway telegram data kicks in at just the right moment to prevent sleep inertia upon waking. But be careful—caffeine can stay in your system for up to 10 hours. Doing this later in the day can potentially disrupt that night’s sleep.
If you’re severely sleep-deprived, a nap isn’t going to pull you back from that brink, and its benefits will probably be muted.
Pursuing a consistent earlier bedtime remains the fastest and safest way to pay off the bulk of your sleep debt.
Think of naps as a helpful supplement to your routine. They are not a magical cure-all, and certainly not a nightly-sleep substitute.
Am I napping in the way that’s best for me?
Does a lot of napping make up for little nightly sleep?
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