While my day always starts with a coffee, I never thought I’d be pouring a dark, icy cold brew at 1 p.m. on a Thursday, especially before a nap. The whole concept of a “coffee nap” seems weird to me. Naps are all about falling asleep. Coffee is all about waking up. And yet there I was, downing caffeine as I simultaneously climbed into bed and set my alarm.
A coffee nap — a topic with over 14.2 million posts on TikTok — is when you drink a cup of joe before taking a quick snooze. It’s a go-to trick amongst doctors and nurses who are on the clock for 24 hours, but it’s also helpful for work-from-homers who can’t keep their eyes open in the afternoon, as well as anyone else who needs a quick reset.
The idea went viral after creator @livspeakman called it a “god-tier nap” in a 2023 TikTok.
The goal, she says, is to drink some coffee before lying down to rest. When you wake up 20 minutes later, that’s when the effects of the coffee will kick in. It’s like a one-two punch: You get the refreshing benefits of a perfectly-timed nap, as well as the extra dose of energy from your pumpkin spice latte. Here’s what to know about this coffee-fueled nap hack.
Why Do Coffee Naps Work?
According to Dr. Shelby Harris, a licensed clinical therapist and the director of sleep health at the sleep-industry website Sleepopolis, coffee naps are often just what your tired brain needs. “Caffeine takes about 20 minutes to enter your bloodstream, so by timing a nap within that window, you wake up with both the restorative effects of sleep and the stimulating effects of caffeine,” she tells Bustle.
If you’re battling afternoon fatigue, Harris says it shouldn’t be too hard to fall asleep within 20 minutes. The same is true if you’re a sleep-deprived late-shift worker or a student pulling an all-nighter. A coffee nap is like a glorified power nap, and it’s pure magic when it comes to staving off sleepiness.
Short naps also allow you to take the edge off of everyday fatigue — without waking up feeling worse. Naps that are longer than 20 to 30 minutes put you at risk of something called sleep inertia, which is when you fall into a deep sleep and then wake up in the middle of a REM-cycle feeling hopelessly groggy. Keep it short ‘n sweet, and you should be good to go.
Myro Figura, MD, who shared a TikTok about coffee naps in 2023, also noted that the benefits of these naps revolve around adenosine, which is the “tiredness” chemical in your brain. When adenosine accumulates throughout the day, it can make you feel extra sleepy.
Caffeine, he said, works as an adenosine receptor blocker and added that a quick nap also reduces the amount of adenosine in your brain. With them working in tandem, it explains why you might wake up from a coffee nap feeling more alert than usual, especially compared to a regular nap. In her TikTok, @livspeakman said coffee naps give your brain “less to fight with” once you’re awake.
One word of caution? Harris says coffee naps aren’t a substitute for a full night’s sleep. They also aren’t guaranteed to work for everyone, like those who might struggle to drift off within a 20-minute window. That said, they’re a total life-saver when you’re super tired.
How To Take The Perfect Coffee Nap
The average cup of coffee has about 100 to 200 milligrams of caffeine, and according to Harris, that’s the perfect amount to help you feel awake and alert. “Overdoing it could leave you feeling jittery, rather than refreshed,” she says.
To take a coffee nap, all you have to do is down your choice of caffeine, set a timer for 20 minutes (you may also want to give yourself a few extra minutes to actually drift off) and get cozy. While you snooze, the coffee will work its magic in your system. When your alarm goes off, try to get up immediately so you don’t fall back into deep sleep and risk sleep inertia.
Another tip? If you you want to nap during the day, Harris recommends doing so as early as possible, like late morning or right after lunch. “Caffeine can stay in your system for several hours, so a late afternoon coffee nap could easily interfere with your ability to fall asleep [later that] night,” she says. “This could lead to a cycle of poor sleep that might be hard to break.”
Trying It Out
I recently tried and loved the 26-minute NASA nap, which suggests that naps of that length are the perfect way to refresh a tired brain, but I felt like it wouldn’t hurt to add one more element to make it even better — you know, like a delicious iced coffee.
When I first heard about coffee naps, my initial thought was that it seemed like caffeine would make it impossible to fall asleep, but the opposite ended up being true. At least for me.
On a particularly sleepy afternoon, right after 1 p.m., I went ahead and tested the coffee nap theory for myself. I poured a glass of cold brew, which had about 170 milligrams of caffeine per 12 oz. serving, sipped it for a few minutes, and hopped into bed.
Again, I figured the coffee would keep me up — that is caffeine’s claim to fame, after all — but it was surprisingly easy to catch a quick snooze. While I had the tiniest bit of trouble waking up from my NASA nap, that didn’t seem to be the case when coffee was in my system.
When my alarm went off about 20 minutes later, I noticed I was extra clear-headed and ready to tackle the rest of my afternoon. It felt like the effects wore off a couple hours later, possible as the caffeine left my system, so it didn’t impact my sleep that night. It did, however, keep me energized enough to meet up with friends for a fun post-work drink.
I can see the coffee nap being a perfect trick for anyone who’s in desperate need of a quick burst of energy, as well as anyone who struggles to wake up from mid-day naps. Cheers to your next caffeine snooze.
Studies referenced:
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Mednick, SC. (2008). Comparing the benefits of caffeine, naps and placebo on verbal, motor and perceptual memory. Behav Brain Res. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2008.04.028.
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Reyner, LA. (1997). Suppression of sleepiness in drivers: combination of caffeine with a short nap. Psychophysiology. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1997.tb02148.x.
Romdhani, M. (2021). Caffeine Use or Napping to Enhance Repeated Sprint Performance After Partial Sleep Deprivation: Why Not Both? Int J Sports Physiol Perform. doi: 10.1123/ijspp.2019-0792.
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Source:
Dr. Shelby Harris, director of sleep health at Sleepopolis
