You might think coffee is the enemy of good sleep. (It is.)
But if you’re short on sleep and pressed for time, taking a coffee nap will give you the benefits of both.
More effective than coffee or naps alone
Caffeine takes time to enter the bloodstream and hit your brain; around 20 minutes.
The optimal length of a nap is also 15-20 minutes — leaving you rested without entering the deeper stages of sleep (which can make you feel groggy).
With a coffee nap, the caffeine will wake you up at the optimal time, rested from the nap and alert from the coffee.
Numerous scientific studies have proven this. Participants who took coffee naps made fewer cognitive errors than those who had just coffee, just a nap, or a placebo. They also reported feeling more alert than the other participants.
How to do it
It’s pretty simple…drink a coffee, then immediately take a nap.
You need enough caffeine to wake you up within 20 minutes. So if coffee’s not your thing, make sure your drink of choice is strong enough. (Diet soda probably isn’t. Green tea depends on the variety…gunpowder green is the strongest.)
Drink it quickly. If you take your sweet time sipping a hot coffee, the caffeine will wake you up before you can fall asleep. Iced coffee and espresso are good options for this.