Feeling ever so slightly snoozy? Having a power nap won’t just help re-energise you – it could improve your mood, boost your memory and leave you feeling more alert, according to a study.

Research from the University of Singapore discovered that 30 minutes of shut-eye in the middle of the day could leave you feeling better for as long as four hours – and even a 10-minute power nap had a positive impact on mood.

As part of the study, 32 young adults were asked to nap for 10, 30 or 60 minutes on separate days, with researchers measuring their mood, sleepiness and cognitive performance at regular intervals after waking up, so that they could investigate how long the benefits of different naps lasted.

The researchers were trying to discover the optimal length for a midday snooze, while also taking into account how to fit this break into the average working day. “We had to ask, is there a recommended duration for a mid-afternoon nap that achieves a balance between practicability and meaningful benefits?” research fellow Dr Ruth Leong said.

While no clear ‘winning nap duration’ was found, Dr Leong revealed that “a 30-minute nap appears to have the best trade off between practicability and benefit”. It’s also worth noting that while the evidence tends to suggest that shorter naps can supercharge our day, longer periods of sleep have been associated with grogginess upon waking and disrupted sleep later in the day.

And as for why you naturally start to feel ever so slightly drowsy in the early afternoon? It’s rooted in your body’s circadian rhythm. It’s natural to feel awake in the day and then become increasingly tired as the evening draws in, but between the hours of 1-3pm, our body temperature drops and melatonin rises, which act as cues for the body to want to sleep.

Time to set your phone timer to 30 minutes and squeeze in some extra Zzzs – but if you need some further convincing before you drift off, here are just some of the other mental health benefits of a siesta…

A nap could help you keep a cooler head in stressful situations

Prone to making impulsive decisions or snapping at others as the working day drags on? A short nap has been shown to be an effective remedy. Research published in 2015 used a group of 40 subjects to measure impulsivity and tolerance for frustration, and the participants who broke up their working day with a quick burst of shut-eye “showed a decrease in self-reported impulsivity and increased tolerance for frustration, while those in the no-nap condition showed the opposite pattern”, according to the study’s authors. 

Making time for a cat nap has also been linked to better cognitive flexibility: it allows us to better adapt to new information and jump between different concepts, ultimately helping us make better decisions.

Snoozing could boost your creativity

Ever found yourself waking up with a fully formed idea rattling around your brain – the sort of scheme that has you groggily reaching for a notepad and pen? It certainly worked for the inventor Thomas Edison, who, rumour has it, deliberately tried to exploit the moments between waking and sleeping – when he believed he came up with some of his best ideas – by drifting off in a chair holding two steel balls. When he fell asleep, the steel balls would crash into metal pans beside him, making a clattering noise that would jolt him awake. Then, he’d write down his ideas before properly sleeping.

It’s an extreme measure, sure (and one that your flatmates or partner won’t thank you for), but research has since found that the right side of the brain – that’s the hemisphere associated with creativity – kept mulling things over, while the left side remained quiet in comparison. Perhaps that might explain your post-snooze creative breakthrough.  

Naps might help you stay sharp in old age

In 2016, a study investigated the impact of an afternoon nap using a sample of 2,214 people aged 60 and over and living in major cities in China. 1,534 participants took regular naps after lunch, while 680 did not. 

Researchers found that the regular nappers scored “significantly higher” on a dementia screening test, which assessed their problem-solving skills, memory, attention span and verbal fluency, among other factors. They performed especially well when it came to working memory, locational awareness and verbal fluency.

Naps can pay off your ‘sleep debt’

Over the course of a busy, stressful week, you might find yourself falling into sleep debt, as you miss out on crucial hours of shut-eye. It’s estimated that once you cross the five-hour mark of lost sleep, you will start to notice a negative impact on your attention span and overall brain performance.

Over time, a high sleep debt can also impact your physical health: those with a chronic sleep debt – ie people who regularly fail to hit the seven or eight-hour mark – face an increased risk for high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Even if you’re struggling to get enough sleep at night, a quick daytime nap can still make a world of difference when it comes to ‘paying off’ that sleep debt. 

Images: Getty