Are daytime naps good or bad for me?
Answered by the AskDoc Medical Team · Medically reviewed under our Medical Director, MBBS
A short nap, twenty to thirty minutes before mid-afternoon, is a legitimate performance tool: alertness, mood and memory all improve, and cultures built around it are onto something.
Naps turn on you in two ways: long naps that dive into deep sleep leave grogginess, and late or frequent naps steal pressure from night sleep, feeding insomnia.
The exception worth noting: a sudden new need to nap daily, or naps that never refresh, is a symptom, think sleep apnea, low iron, thyroid or mood, and worth investigating rather than scheduling around.
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