The coffee nap
As I am currently writing this the clock is slowly ticking and tocking towards 3pm. With the pendulum swaying backwards and forwards, every second is passing. And with each second, the desire for a lovely mid-afternoon nap rises. Sadly, if I was caught napping at my desk whilst working the consequences might not be too palatable.
The obvious alternative would be to drink a cup of strong coffee, push through the drowsiness and ride that caffeine kick for as long as it lasts. That’s generally how it works in offices – well, according to my experiences anyway.
However, if you can spare a few minutes to enter a gentle slumber during the afternoon you should combine a brief period of shut-eye with a cup coffee and reap two benefits. Supporters of this practice know it to be the famous coffee nap.
‘But,’ I can hear you begin to proclaim, ‘doesn’t coffee wreck your normal sleep patterns?’ The answer is yes, but that’s why timing is all important.
Normally, it takes about twenty minutes or so for caffeine to do its job. Once ingested it needs to be absorbed, pass through your bloodstream and get to the brain where it begins to work its magic by jousting with adenosine.
Sleep on the other hand naturally clears adenosine from the brain. However too much sleep and you’ll begin to ‘over cook’ things and you are more likely to suffer from immediate sleep inertia, that state of grogginess post-snooze.
So, have a cup of coffee and then nap twenty-minutes (or less) and hey-presto!
Besides from the formula, there’s actual scientific proof too.
A team of researchers from Japan found that those who took a caffeine nap before undertaking a series of tests went on to perform better than those who stayed awake. Also, their results were higher than those who had either had a brief nap or a cup of coffee.
See, science!