Time And Duration Of Unrecomposed Afternoon

Illustration of naps (Pexels/John Mark Smith)

JAKARTA - Napping is a way to restore energy when the body is tired during the day. However, napping must not be arbitrary because it can have a bad impact on health and interfere with sleep hours at night.

This was conveyed by lung specialist and sleep expert, Dr. Raj Dasgupta, quoted from Today, on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. Doctor Raj said naps were indeed a savior for people who lacked sleep.

When a person is able to sleep enough, napping can increase vigilance, reduce stress, improve mood, and improve performance. However, for people who are insomnia, napping is not recommended especially if done at the wrong time.

Doctor Raj said the worst time for naps was after 15.00, or 8 hours before night's sleep.

"The worst thing you can do is take a nap if you have insomnia because it can take away your desire to sleep at night," said Raj Dasgupta.

For a good nap time between 12.00 to 14.00. The ideal duration for naps is 15 to 20 minutes, and a maximum of 30 minutes.

Taking a nap is also not recommended because it can interfere with the rhythm of the sirkadian, making it more difficult to sleep at night. Ritme sirkadian regulates sleep cycles and wakes up 24 hours of the body, so that it is in line with solar time.

Not only that, long naps can also increase the risk of the body entering a deeper stage of sleep and triggering sleep inertia. Sleep inertia is a feeling of nervousness, disorientation, cognitive function disorders after waking up, and the risk of cardiovascular disease is higher.

"I want you to stay in a lighter stage of sleep because if you take too long, you may wake up feeling worse," said Doctor Raj.