Take a 10‑minute nap in the afternoon — don’t sleep half an hour
UpdatedGrade BMedium benefitTimeFreeLittle timeNo willpower
When the previous night was short, a 10-minute nap lifts alertness right away; some of that effect lasts about two and a half hours. A 5-minute nap is basically useless. A 20-minute nap only shows benefit after 35 minutes. After a 30-minute nap you first feel groggy on waking; for that stretch performance is worse than not napping.
- Cost
- It costs nothing. Just set aside 10 minutes and find a place where you can lie down or recline.
- Benefit
- After a night of insufficient sleep, a 10‑minute nap quickly reduces drowsiness, fatigue, and improves energy and mental performance; some of these effects persist for up to 155 minutes. A 5‑minute nap yields virtually no benefit, and the advantages of a 20‑minute nap appear only after 35 minutes. A 30‑minute nap first causes sleep inertia, so performance is actually poorer right after waking, before any improvement occurs.
- Notes
- Only one laboratory study exists, and its participants were healthy young adults. If you can’t fall asleep, there’s no need to force it; there’s no research showing any benefit from simply lying down with eyes closed for 10 minutes. Naps longer than an hour have been linked to higher mortality and increased risk of coronary heart disease — see Section 2, Item 38 (keep naps under 30 minutes). 〔37〕
Sources · 1
- Brooks & Lack (2006). A brief afternoon nap following nocturnal sleep restriction: Which nap duration is most recuperative? Sleep. doi.org/10.1093/sleep/29.6.831