The Afternoon Coffee Nap Hack
Have you ever woken up after a 20 minute nap and felt even more exhausted? If so, read on for how to hack your afternoon nap with coffee.
When the mid-day is rolling around and it is time to figure out whether or not you are rallying doe the rest of the day or getting an early night’s sleep, you might reach for a cup of coffee or maybe take a quick nap to get a the burst of energy you need to survive the rest of the day. Regular naps, however, can drain you, especially if you sleep for too long.
For most people, it is recommended that naps only last 20-30 minutes. Any more than that you will be feeling groggy and have a feeling of being woken up in the middle of the night. The mind needs 90 minutes for a full cycle of sleep, so if you are waking up around 30-60 minutes you would be waking up in a mid sleep cycle just when your body and mind are in its deepest rest. While it might seem good to let your body have more time to rest, waking up from that deep sleep will throw off your energy even more because your body will be confused as to why it woke up. If you are absolutely exhausted, a 90-minute nap is a good idea because it goes through an entire sleep cycle and you will wake up without that groggy feeling.
The power nap being 20-30 minutes is generally the best for mid-day or a little pick me up. Sometimes, however, these short naps just don’t do the trick. After days of late nights, hectic work days, or long commutes, short naps can help a little but don’t do enough to bring your brain back to life. In these scenarios, the nap hack comes into play.
Coffee and tiredness
Because naps take up time that is dedicated to doing nothing, many busy folks will choose to opt out of sleep and go for energy sources that they can indulge in while keeping busy. This means energy drinks like coffee! Coffee, as you know, includes caffeine which is a type of stimulant drug that can speed up the messages traveling between your brain and body. Caffeine affects the nervous system, heart, and muscles.
Coffee is a great idea for an afternoon energy boost, especially if drank in the early afternoon so it does not interfere with your night time sleep schedule. It keeps you feeling alert and energized for hours. Drinking coffee around 2 or 3 should keep busy bees buzzing throughout the day. Coffee is also amazing for the morning to kick start the brain, but most people are not in need of naps and feeling groggy in the morning, and that’s just not what this post is about!
The only downside to drinking coffee or other energy drinks in the afternoon is that when the caffeine wears of, there is often a feeling of crashing. This crash could feel like an immediate loss of energy, irritation, and generally feeling worse than you did before. This happens especially after large amounts of caffeine are consumed.
OK, so, if coffee and napping both have their issues, then what does a tired person need to do to keep it together? Now comes the nap hack that will crush your afternoon slumps for good.
When most people think of napping, they seldom think of coffee. Coffee has caffeine and caffeine wakes you up, so naturally, coffee and sleep do not match up. Coffee and sleep are both working to keep you awake, though, so wouldn’t it be a good idea to try and combine the nap with coffee so that they can work together to make you the most awake you can possibly be? Our answer is YES, heck yes. Any chance to spring back from sleep deprivation we will gladly take.
The coffee hack
So, here’s how it works. From first sip, it takes the body 45 minutes to completely absorb all the caffeine. This means it takes 45 minutes before your body is fully utilizing the coffee energy and begin bouncing off walls. Here’s where things get fun… if you are planning on taking a 20-30-minute nap, you could time it perfectly to get all the coffee energy and still be able to sleep IF you drink it and get to sleep before the 45 minute caffeine absorption period is over. Coffee energy + nap energy!
Try drinking a full cup of coffee maximum 10 minutes or immediately before your nap. After you finish your cup of joe, speedily head to the nearest soft surface, set a 20 minutes alarm, put your head to the pillow, and get to sleep! Once that timer goes off, you will be left feeling completely energized and ready for the rest of the day because you have had both caffeine and the power nap to restore your energy and will to stay awake!
So, let's recap:
1. Drink your coffee
Try our quality instant coffee for a faster process.
2. Set a 20-30 minute timer
3. Go to nap
it is ok if you can't fall asleep, just clearing up your thoughts and resting is good as well.
Warning—this will not work if you do not go to sleep almost immediately after you drink your coffee. It would be such a bummer if you spent too long perusing your Instagram news feed and then the caffeine kicked in before you even got to shut your eyes, so make sure you are shutting your eyes in time to get the sleep benefit too! If done correctly, the coffee nap hack can seriously transform your days and leave you feeling like you finally got that much needed 8-10 hours of sleep everybody talks about.
If you want to be extremely efficient about your nap hack and are pressed for time, try using Waka Coffee’s instant coffee. It will be ready for you in seconds and is very easily carried, making it possible for you to try your nap hack anywhere. Slip one instant coffee packet into your pocket at the beginning of the work day and add it to a cup of coffee around 2 pm. Presto, you have coffee! All you need next is an empty conference room and you are good to go!
Get our best instant coffee here.
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* Statements made on this website have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Information provided by this website or this company is not a substitute for individual medical advice.
