Here's the daily situation: You get tired around lunch time or shortly after. You know that coffee this late will probably prevent you from going to sleep at a good time later. Or worse, it won't work at all.
So you come to the obvious conclusion that you should take a nap.
The Problem with Naps
During the weekdays, you might not have the time. During the weekend though, naps are fair game, you think.
The only problem is that you wake up more tired than you were when you laid down.
This is called sleep inertia and it happens because you woke up in the middle of your sleep cycle. Each sleep cycle is about 90 minutes. So if you sleep too long or don't nap long enough, you will probably wake up sluggish and regretting your decision to nap.
Even worse, you may find you have trouble sleeping later.
There is an easy solution – carefully choose how long you're going to nap.
How Long to Nap
If you have time for a longer nap, 90 minutes is as long as you should nap. Any more and you risk your nightly sleep. (Please note: If you get good sleep at night, you will wake up energized and won't feel the need to nap.)
But there is a much shorter amount of time. And, you can even manage to get a nap in at work as long as you have a place for it.
Since you don't get into the 2nd phase of your sleep (a deeper phase), until after 20 minutes, that's about how long you have to nap without risking sleep inertia. Even 15 minutes is an excellent amount of time.
You can also increase the effectiveness of your nap by drinking a cup of coffee directly before, according to a study. Since it takes approximately 45 minutes for caffeine to fully enter your bloodstream, you'll be on your way to heightened focus when you wake up from your coffee nap.
Naps can be a terrific way to supplement your sleep on an occasional basis. You should be getting between 6-8 hours of sleep every night. Naps require a much more rigid timeframe.
Remember: Take your naps before 3pm and keep them to less than 20 minutes or at 90 minutes to increase your focus and re-energize you.