Can Taking an Afternoon Nap Boost Your Energy?

As busy as people are, many Americans have found a way to give themselves a break in their day—they take a nap. They nap at home, in the office, or even in the car, typically in the afternoon. Some colleges, offices, and other public places have even installed “nap pods,” which are large, private, cozy spaces where people can shut their eyes.

But what does a nap really do for you?

The research isn’t conclusive on the health impacts of napping, and some studies have even linked long naps of an hour or more to obesity and higher risks of heart disease. But according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), research shows that a brief period of sleep (meaning actual sleep, not just quiet time) can provide some brain benefits, including reducing daytime sleepiness, boosting performance and learning, and improving alertness, among other things.

That said, how you nap matters. “One thing we know is that a nap should be taken at the right time and for the right length,” says Lynelle Schneeberg, PsyD, a Yale Medicine sleep psychologist who focuses on behavioral issues around sleep. “If those conditions are right, the general feeling is that a nap can be quite restorative.”

Below, we talk more with Schneeberg about how to take a nap—and how it might be helpful.

A nap is what you do when you fall asleep for a brief period, usually during the day.

It’s different from a healthy night’s sleep, which cycles through four stages: light sleep, two stages of progressively deeper sleep, and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, when dreaming occurs. A full night’s sleep moves through these stages several times.

Because a nap is much shorter, a person usually doesn’t make it through all the stages. They may not even reach the deepest level of sleep, which typically occurs after about an hour.

While there are no rigid rules around napping, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• When to nap: If you get up every day at 6 or 7 a.m., your ideal nap time will be between noon and 4 p.m., Schneeberg says. “You shouldn’t need or want a nap until after lunchtime, and napping too late in the evening can push your bedtime later,” she adds.
• Where to nap: It’s best to avoid napping in the place where you sleep at night. “In other words, don’t go to your bedroom, get under the covers, and dim the lights,” Schneeberg says. “I wouldn't necessarily send the message to your body that you're going to sleep for a long time.” Instead, she suggests napping on a couch or in a chair.
• How long to nap: Twenty to 30 minutes is ideal, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Napping for that amount of time allows you to wake up during a lighter stage of sleep feeling alert. But with a 45-minute nap, you may wake up during a deeper stage of sleep and find yourself in “sleep inertia,” a term used to describe a feeling of disorientation and decline in mood and performance. “Interestingly, even a 5-minute power nap helps some people,” Schneeberg says. “They fall asleep for a very short time and wake up refreshed.”
• How often to nap: Should you nap every day? It depends, Schneeberg says. “You may find that some days you feel like a nap, and some days you don’t. This could depend on your other activities on any given day. Did you go for a walk at lunch? Sunlight and physical activity usually decrease the desire to nap," she says. "Did you have a high-carbohydrate lunch? Simple carbohydrates, such as white bread, white rice, and pasta, can cause a sudden drop in blood sugar that can make a person feel drowsy. All of those things could affect whether or not you want a nap.”

No, and there is no reason to be anxious if you can’t fall asleep, Schneeberg says. “If you don’t sleep, that’s OK,” she says. “Many people benefit from just getting away from work or stress and taking some downtime, even if they're just lying there with their eyes closed.”

If the nap is brief, the sleep may be so light that some people won’t realize they slept.

But taking steps to relax can help. “Whenever I work with people who have insomnia, for example, I ask them to try to read themselves to sleep—read until their eyes are really closing on their own,” Schneeberg says. “It may sound odd, but it's good to read a book that is not overly engaging, something that your brain can pay just a little attention to while you're relaxing into sleep. An audiobook or podcast also might help.

“We have a phrase: ‘irresistible napping,’” Schneeberg says, describing an urge to fall asleep during the day that is almost impossible to resist. If a person experiences irresistible napping most days, that could indicate a problem that needs to be treated by a sleep specialist, she says. It could be a sign that they are getting inadequate sleep at night or have a condition such as untreated sleep apnea, narcolepsy, or significant insomnia that warrants medical attention, she adds.

It’s important to remember that naps are a temporary aid to improve alertness, not a replacement for getting a regular, long period of sleep at night.

“On rare occasions, you can use a nap to make up for a night of poor sleep, but you really do want your priority to be getting adequate sleep each night,” Schneeberg says. “You don't want to rely on naps as your rescue net.”

It depends. Many older people nap in the daytime for a variety of reasons, including age-related changes in circadian rhythm (the 24-hour cycles that are part of the body’s internal clock) and sleep patterns. “So, if someone in their 80s is sleeping less overnight, then they might want to add a nap,” Schneeberg says.

If you are a healthy adult, you don’t necessarily need a nap, according to the National Sleep Foundation, and Schneeberg says many adults don’t want one. But, depending on how you feel in the afternoon, a nap may make sense.

Schneeberg explains that melatonin, a natural hormone in the body that helps regulate the body’s circadian rhythms, is released within the body in the evening before bedtime—and, to a lesser extent, after lunch. “So, it seems that we might be biologically programmed to nap,” she says. At the very least, “napping can become a personal pattern and preference.”

People have found that when naps are working for them, they provide a creative boost that can make them more productive in the second part of the day, allowing them to extend the time when they can work effectively and solve problems, Schneeberg says. Many find it improves their mood and makes them less likely to have another cup of coffee after lunch, she says.

But it’s important to follow the guidelines (above) for afternoon sleep. “With what I call ‘optimal napping,’ there are very few downsides,” Schneeberg says. “Naps can often provide a reset to the day. As long as you're napping in an optimal way, they are a great addition to your healthy behaviors.”