Better Take a Nap After Drinking Your Coffee
Last summer I spent a few weeks in Italy, where the time difference is nine hours from my home in San Francisco. This aggressive change of time meant that the first week of my trip was pretty exhausted. I got through those first few days on naps and coffee. Then one of the people I traveled with suggested something interesting: combine sleep and coffee.
An Italian friend of mine advised me to have a few espresso just before I went to bed for a nap. When I woke up later, she said that I would feel much more rested. She was right.
It turns out this practice is actually scientifically proven, as author Daniel Pink discussed with us in The Upgrade . Most of us are going through the midday slump based on our chronotype , and this is just one of several ways to help us cope with it.
While we usually think of caffeine as something that prevents us from falling asleep, it would be nice just before that 20 minute sleep. In fact, researchers have proven that combining these two ingredients provides more benefits than just a nap or a cup of coffee. This is a dynamic combo.
The basic idea here is that caffeine works about 20 minutes after you drink it so that it really gives you the boost you want.
Caffeine usually travels to receptors in your brain, which are usually filled with adenosine molecules, which are a product of brain activity. You are tired because these receptors are starting to fill up.
The caffeine you drink must fight adenosine receptors for stains in your brain. However, if you get some sleep, you’ll clear some of those receptors just in time for caffeine to enter and take over this top-notch property, Vox reports .
The key here is just a 20 minute nap. You don’t even need to fall asleep, half asleep will also help.
This story was originally published in 2018 and is complemented by research by Daniel Pink.