Most people, Cahill adds, will experience a circadian dip around 3pm, even if they’ve had a good night’s sleep. He says this afternoon lethargy typically lasts between five and 10 minutes, and that getting up and moving around will help it pass.
Can ‘micronaps’ be a good thing?
For some people, particularly those with insomnia or sleep apnoea, sleeping during the day can impact nighttime sleep, causing a vicious cycle, says Cahill.
But he says that “having a conditional nap when you’re tired can be very helpful for some”.
“The general rule is that if you’re going to have a nap, and you don’t want it to interfere with your nighttime sleep, keep it to 15 to 20 minutes.” Restricting naps to short periods of time prevents you slipping into “slow wave” or deep sleep that make it harder to fall or stay asleep at night.
As for “micronaps”, he sees no problem with a few minutes of shut-eye, so long as you can keep them short.
The sleepless elite
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For high-powered figures, running on the bare minimum amount of sleep has become something of a badge of honour for those dubbed the “sleepless elite”. Barack Obama and Julia Gillard spoke of surviving on six hours of sleep a night, and Kevin Rudd a measly three. Margaret Thatcher trained her body to get by on four hours, while Winston Churchill was renowned for his eccentric sleep routine of whisky sodas chased by two-hour afternoon naps.
Trump himself favours a slimmed down sleep routine, writing in his 2004 book, Think Like a Billionaire, “I usually sleep about four hours per night.”
But should we all be following in the footsteps of the sleepless elite and maximising our waking hours? While the typical recommendations for adults is between six and seven hours of sleep per night, Cahill says it very much depends on the individual.
“The amount of sleep you need is really determined by your functionality during the day. So, if you’re functioning well, and you’re on about five or six, that’s fine.”
But, he warns, the long-term effects of insufficient sleep are well-documented, and adds that short periods of sleep may not always be an active choice for those in high-powered roles, but a symptom of stress.
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