Should I nap?

Our read is that napping can significantly enhance learning and memory, improve emotional regulation, and provide an energy boost.

Experts suggest that naps can support various longevity therapies, including growth hormone release and cognitive consolidation.

However, individuals should be mindful of nap duration to avoid negative impacts on nighttime sleep or experiencing grogginess.

To avoid grogginess after a nap, Andrew Huberman and Paul Saladino suggest limiting its duration to about 20-25 minutes to prevent entering the deepest stages of sleep. Bryan Johnson notes that napping at the same time each day can be beneficial. Bryan Johnson also suggests that taking a nap before staying up past one's usual bedtime is a strategy called 'sleep banking' and is superior to accumulating sleep debt.

• 01Brief naps or non-sleep deep rest protocols performed some hours after learning can enhance learning and memory (Andrew Huberman, 4x).
• 02Bryan Johnson includes a 1-hour nap in his daily routine (Bryan Johnson, 1x).
• 03Napping for 10-20 minutes can provide an energy boost (Bryan Johnson, 1x).
• 04Napping at the same time each day can be beneficial (Bryan Johnson, 1x).
• 05Learning involves focus and alertness, followed by deep rest, and can be accelerated by short naps or non-sleep deep rest (Andrew Huberman, 2x).
• 06Napping is a longevity therapy that supports growth hormone release, glymphatic clearance, muscle protein synthesis, and cognitive consolidation (Bryan Johnson, 1x).
• 07Napping can improve emotional regulation, reducing the response to fearful and angry faces and increasing positive ratings of happy faces (Andrew Huberman, 1x).
• 08Taking a nap before staying up past one's usual bedtime is a strategy called 'sleep banking' and is superior to accumulating sleep debt (Bryan Johnson, 1x).
• 09The learning benefits from napping are associated with sleep spindles, while emotional recalibration benefits require REM sleep (Andrew Huberman, 1x).
• 10To avoid grogginess after a nap, limit its duration to about 20-25 minutes to prevent entering the deepest stages of sleep (Andrew Huberman, Paul Saladino, 2x).
• 11Naps as short as 17 minutes can significantly improve learning, and NASA found that 26-minute naps improved mission performance by 34% and daytime alertness by 50% (Andrew Huberman, 4x).
• 12Naps between 20 minutes and 90 minutes can provide benefits for cardiovascular health, blood pressure, cortisol levels, learning, memory, and emotional regulation (Andrew Huberman, 2x).
• 13A high-output investigator attributes much of his performance to regular napping (Andrew Huberman, 1x).

Andrew Huberman notes that napping can negatively impact nighttime sleep for individuals with insomnia (3x). Andrew Huberman also states that taking long naps (over an hour) when trying to adjust to a new time zone can lead to waking up at midnight (1x). Rhonda Patrick and Paul Saladino warn that napping for more than 60 minutes can lead to deep slow wave sleep, causing sleep inertia (2x). Peter Attia and Andrew Huberman advise avoiding naps during the day if struggling with sleep at night to build sufficient sleep pressure (2x). Andrew Huberman emphasizes that individuals should determine if napping interferes with their nighttime sleep and adjust nap duration accordingly, with naps over 90 minutes potentially problematic (7x).

Our read is that the verdict would change if new evidence emerged consistently demonstrating that napping universally disrupts nighttime sleep for all individuals, or if the purported benefits to learning, memory, and emotional regulation were found to be negligible or outweighed by negative health outcomes. Additionally, if the mechanisms for avoiding sleep inertia or managing nap duration to prevent nighttime sleep interference were found to be ineffective or harmful, the recommendation would need to be re-evaluated.