What is a 'Nappuccino' and How Could it Boost Productivity?

If you've noticed #nappuccino or #coffeenap popping up on your Instagram feed recently, you might be wondering how coffee, which is known to keep you awake, could possibly be associated with sleep.

Although a coffee nap does go against the conventional idea that caffeine disrupts sleep, the key here is to keep your sleep short and time it right. According to some scientists, drinking coffee before taking a 20-minute nap—the amount of time the caffeine takes to kick in—will leave you feeling more awake afterwards than just coffee or a nap alone.

Also Read: 60% of Coffee Varieties Face Extinction Risk

The idea is not new; Vox reported on the science of a coffee nap back in 2015, but after the recent switch to daylight saving time in the USA that has led to sleepiness as our bodies re-adjust, and an article on NPR earlier this week, the idea of a coffee nap seems to be buzzy again.

Writer Daniel H. Pink, who NPR credit with naming the coffee nap a ‘nappuccino’, even shares his five steps to the perfect nappuccino on his website and on Instagram via the account of Next Big Idea Club—a book club curated by Pink along with Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant and Susan Cain.

Pink first mentioned his belief in coffee nap in his book, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, which released in January 2018. However, if you need a little afternoon boost, Pink also has a five-point chart to the perfect nap. All you really need to do is track your low point during the working day, make a cup of coffee, switch off your phone, and lie down for around 20 minutes, any longer and you risk waking up feeling groggy. Pink also says that making it a regular habit could lead you to get even more out of napping, but if you can't, at least it might help you get through these first few days of spring.