Here’s a cool mind hack for you
Caffeine and napping seems like a counter intuitive concept. Isn’t caffeine supposed to keep you awake? True, but read on to find out why scientists recommend this mind hack.
The idea of the “caffeine power nap” is to have a coffee, or similarly caffeinated beverage, before your nap. By the time the caffeine has kicked in, you will either be fast asleep or just waking up.
Before I get into the details as to how this works, lets take a look at power naps. How much sleep did you miss last night? If your a monophasic sleeper (which means you get your sleep all in one block), did you get 7-8 hours? If you got less than this, you probably have a sleep debt and need to make it up somehow.
On the other hand, you may be a polyphaisc sleeper ( I’ll write more about this in another post), like me, where you split your sleep into multiple sections, taking power naps are essential for survival. Being a polyphasic sleeper means I can sleep less, however, if I do miss a section of sleep I will crash and burn.
So onto the concept of Caffeine Naps
Caffeine takes around 20 minutes to have an affect on your body and absorption will be complete in around 45 minutes. This means, If you fall asleep right after taking caffeine, it won’t hinder your ability to sleep. The perk is (quite literally) a reduced sense of drowsiness and a heightened state of alertness when you wake up.
To test out the theory of the “caffiene nap”, sleep researchers at the Loughborough University gave subjects caffeine which was immediately followed by a power nap. These subjects out performed those who were given a placebo before taking a power nap, on a driving simulation.
Of course taking a power nap with caffeine will require some discipline. If you don’t end up napping after the caffeine, you’re probably going to end up more tired than before.
Personally I’ve had positive results having caffeine before taking a nap. I experimented with different forms – green tea, black tea, red bull and coffee. I found the latter two seem to be the most effective. This is most likely due to the fact that the caffeine in tea is released differently into the body. The caffeine “high” from tea is said to be less intense but longer lasting.
I’m going to be experimenting with different forms of stimulants (sugars, guarana etc.) to see if they can be used effectively as well. And because I’m a data freak, I’ve been taking reaction tests after each nap to test things out. These will all be released in a coming post.
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Photo By – Tiago Rïbeiro
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
This really works too! I heard about it a little while ago dubbed as “The real power nap”. I didn’t know there was actual research to back it though.
Im glad it works for you as well.
I try and put as much research as possible when experimenting with mind and body hacks. I always look at a lot of data and try and make an informed decision….so no, no wives tales here
This is interesting, however from when I quit coffee, I feel way more relaxed. It took a few weeks for me to return to a normal level, but now I no longer need caffeine and I never feel stressed anymore.
Although I’m a bit of a green tea connoisseur, I am quite intrigued to give this a try and see the effects. I’ll try anything once and the theory sounds plausible.
How long do you nap for? Set times or just until you wake up?
Also, a little random fact. Loughborough Uni is just down the road from me. My brother goes there. Didn’t know they were doing all kinds of coffee experiments but it makes sense because most students there are athletes and power naps would probably help performance no end!
Cool post and I look forward to seeing the other experiments you have in store.
I set naps for around 20 minutes of sleep time, allowing for about 10-20 minutes to fall asleep. I have the ability to wake up at a certain time, but if you can’t, use an alarm so as not to oversleep.
Its a small world! The research lab their does all kinds of experiments related to driver fatigue and keeping people awake.
That’s a neat skill being able to wake up at a certain time!
Hmm, I bet it would be quite easy for me to get an interview with some of the guys doing the research there and go over to check the lab out. I might look into that…
This stuff seems downright dangerous. There’s a reason why babies and kids sleep through the night. Are there any studies on the long term consequences of polyphasic sleep? How about caffeine naps?
Yes. Studies are fairly inconclusive showing pretty much no difference between polyphasic and monophaisc sleep. That being said – we know so little about the brain, so don’t listen to me and do only what you feel comfortable with.
NASA and the U.S military are the biggest researchers in this field. I follow closely the research they put out.
Nice suggestion. I too have used caffeine naps with good results (power naps work for many monophasic sleepers as well). I particularly recommend espresso; I find the smaller amount of liquid makes it easier to nap.
N.B. s/affect/effect/ in the article.
I have read about polyphasic sleep before and would like to try it but it doesn’t really fit in with working a 9 to 5 type job.
I look forward to further reports by you on your experiences with it.
Like Michael Hartl I also power nap, frequently after drinking coffee. And I tend to wake up within about 20-30 minutes afterward without relying on an alarm clock..
I do set the alarm though. I’m somewhat anal about sleeping in,ha,ha..
Taking a nap after drinking coffee seems counter intuitive but as a caffeine addict (yeah I am!), I have no difficulty taking a nap right after drinking coffee! sometimes, I even feel drowsy after drinking coffee. I should probably cutback a little though.
Caffeine naps are the greatest in my opinion. When I was in the military we used to get 2-3 hours of sleep a night in the field. So when we had an extra 20-30 minutes we would down the “iodine” coffee and go to the rack. Results were pretty much as stated, made getting after it again much easier. Great article and thanks for sharing.
If I have time I usually drink an espresso after lunch and then take my 20 minutes power nap. Works like a charm.
Never heard of a caffeine nap until now, I can’t wait to try it out as soon as I can. I could really use any kind of drowsiness improvement at the moment in my life! Thanks for the suggestions.
I’ve actually put this caffeine power nap to use quite a few times and will recommend it to people who need that extra kick or when you’re tired. I tend to do 10min naps very well (without a need for an alarm clock), so I pop a caffeine pill and nap. When I wake up, it’s time to work.