Do you struggle to nod off in the middle of the day no matter how sleep deprived you are? Or, when you finally do get some shuteye, do you find it just makes you even more tired or, worse still, ruins your sleep later that night?

Maybe you’ve even written napping off for good if you’ve convinced yourself it’s simply not worth the effort.

Well, we’re here to tell you that’s wrong – it is worth the effort – and you’re not a napping lost cause after all, because there are ways to to do it better.

Why is napping good for you?

Kirsty Vant, a CBT-i therapist at The Soke, is a fan of naps and the boost they can give to our health and wellbeing.

“Our cardiovascular health, immune system and stress levels all benefit from a short nap,” she says. “Research has also shown that those who take a nap while studying can recall more than those who don’t nap at all.”

Dr Lindsay Browning, a psychologist, neuroscientist and sleep expert at And So To Bed, also points out that as well as making us feel less tired, a good nap can improve reaction times, boost our mood and help us better regulate our emotions. 

“It’s a myth that people should get their recommended sleep in one solid block,” she adds.

There are, however, a couple of cons to napping that go hand in hand with those pros.

Vant says: “Potential downsides of napping include sleep inertia, a temporary state of cognitive and sensory-motor impairment experienced immediately after waking up that many people describe as ‘feeling groggy’. Having a lengthy nap in the late afternoon can also have a negative impact on your drive to sleep at night.”

Dr Browning agrees, saying: “Short naps generally don’t affect nighttime sleep quality for the majority of people. But if you are someone who struggles with insomnia or poor sleep quality at night, long naps may worsen these problems.”

So you might be better off taking a power nap for around 30-40 minutes in the early afternoon rather than a 70-minute nap at 5pm, for example.

There’s even some evidence to suggest that our relationship with napping could be in our genes.

Vant, who specialises in circadian dysregulation, insomnia and sleep-based anxiety, says: “One study published in 2023, based on data from the UK Biobank that contains genetic information from almost half a million people, was able to identify 123 regions in the human genome associated with napping. This suggests that our desire to nap is, in part, influenced by our genes.”

How to learn to nap

Try not to force it

Vant says that, perhaps counter-intuitively, you can’t really force yourself to take a nap because sleep is a “passive activity”.

“In fact,” she adds, “the more pressure you put on yourself to sleep, the harder it is to drop off. If napping is something that you feel you’d like to introduce into your daily routine, I’d recommend thinking about creating an opportunity for rest and then if sleep comes that’s an added benefit.

“To create a rest opportunity, put aside 30 minutes. Keep potential interruptions to a minimum; switch off your phone and let people know you’ll be unavailable for this time. Set an alarm or ask someone to wake you after 30 minutes to ensure that you don’t nap for too long. Then lie back, relax and let your mind wander free.”

Decide the length of your nap before nodding off

“The length of time you decide to nap plays an important role in how you feel post-nap,” says Dr Browning. “To ensure you don’t wake up groggy after a nap, either stick to a short 20-minute nap or a longer nap of at least 1 hour 30 minutes. The body has sleep cycles of one and a half hours meaning that if you wake up in the middle of this cycle during the deep sleep phase you will feel worse than you did before the nap. Set an alarm  prior to falling asleep. This will ensure you don’t nap into another sleep cycle.”

Take naps in the early afternoon

Dr Browning says: “Deciding when to take your nap is important. Napping late in the afternoon can interfere with your nighttime sleep. If your normal bedtime is around 11pm then you shouldn’t be napping any later than 2pm. Napping past this time can throw your bedtime routine off and you may struggle to fall asleep.”

Create a restful environment

“As with falling asleep at night,” explains Dr Browning, “creating the right environment for your nap is important. You should try to nap in a quiet, dark place with a comfortable room temperature and few distractions. You may find using an eye mask helps if you are napping in daylight. Although a recent study found 29% of Brits admitted to taking a nap while working from home, you should try to avoid taking naps at your desk or on the sofa. Ideally, you should be taking naps in your bed because your body is already used to sleeping there, and this can aid in dropping off.”

Avoid unintentional TV naps

“This may be hard to resist,” says Dr Browning, “especially when cosied up on the sofa watching a film. However, unintentional napping while on the sofa can reduce your sleep drive and make you less likely to sleep at night because you already had sleep close to your bedtime. Falling asleep in front of the TV can also interfere with your sleep due to the light from electrical devices. The blue light emitted by electronic devices, such as smartphones, televisions, handheld consoles and laptops, imitates daylight, which can therefore suppress melatonin production – our sleep-promoting hormone.”

Give yourself recovery time after a nap

“After napping,” says Dr Browning, “you may feel a little disoriented so make sure you give yourself some time to wake up before resuming activities, particularly those that require a quick or sharp response such as driving.”

Images: Getty