Tech

19 science-backed benefits of napping

By Rebecca Harrington
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Naps can be pure bliss.

sleeping napping women hammocks reuters rtx1hesn
Reuters/Mark Makela

The US Department of Health and Human Services recommends adults should get seven to eight hours of sleep a night. But a 2013 Gallup poll found Americans average 6.8 hours per night, and 40% get fewer than seven hours.

Napping could help make up for the lack of sleep.

Here are just 19 of the many health benefits napping offers.

Multiple researchers have concluded that the ideal nap is 10 to 20 minutes long.

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A worker takes a nap during lunch break, at a Foxconn factory in the township of Longhua in Shenzhen, China on January 21, 2015. For some people, napping in public places to compensate the lack of sleep is always an option. Tyrone Siu/REUTERS

Sources: 2008 study in Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 2002 study in Journal of Sleep Research, 1999 study in Clinical Neurophysiology

Naps were linked to better cognitive performance in one study.

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People nap in an Ikea furniture store. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Source: 2010 study in Progress in Brain Research

Another study showed people who took naps also did slightly better on math problems.

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An ethnic Uighur man takes a nap on a board as his goat, which is tied to the board, stands next to him at a demolition site in Aksu, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region August 13, 2012. Stringer/REUTERS

Source: 1991 study in Sleep

Other research suggests napping before trying a difficult task makes you less likely to get frustrated.

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A man holds a toy bear as he sleeps outside City Hall in Los Angeles, California, December 18, 2013. Lucy Nicholson/REUTERS

Source: 2015 study in Personality and Individual Differences

People who don't nap can show higher levels of stress hormones, and experience more psychological strain.

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A reveler sleeps on the pavement during the Sanja Matsuri festival in the Asakusa district of Tokyo May 17, 2015. Thomas Peter/REUTERS

Sources: 2015 study in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2015 study in Occupational and Environmental Medicine

If you don't take naps, you may also be more likely to feel impulsive.

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In a view from above, construction workers take a nap on their lunch break inside the Arena Das Dunas stadium in Natal, Brazil on December 13, 2013. Gary Hershorn/REUTERS

Source: 2015 study in Personality and Individual Differences

Naps taken six hours after waking up showed more benefits than taking naps later in the day, according to one study.

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People take a nap on a couch at an IKEA store to escape the summer heat in Beijing, August 5, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer

Source: 1987 study in Sleep

Naps people take by choice — rather than those they take because they are too exhausted to stay awake — might help improve mental performance.

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A couple share a siesta at the base of a wall on Manly Beach in Sydney December 25, 2007. Will Burgess/REUTERS

Source: Reuters

Naps might even help boost the immune system, according to one small study.

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A laborer takes a nap in a basket at a wholesale vegetable market on a hot summer day in Kolkata, India, May 25, 2015. Rupak De Chowdhuri/REUTERS

Sources: 2015 study in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism

People also tend to remember more if they take afternoon naps.

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A man takes a nap during a rehearsal of the Minnesota Orchestra in Havana, Cuba on May 15, 2015. Alexandre Meneghini/REUTERS

Source: 2014 study in PLoS One

Studies have shown taking naps can improve reaction time and alertness.

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A vendor selling watermelons naps as he waits for customers at a market in Taiyuan, China, July 17, 2013. Jon Woo/REUTERS

Sources: 2002 study in Chinese Mental Health Journal, 1991 study in Sleep

Taking a nap can result in better motor skills than staying awake in the afternoon.

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A model takes a nap backstage before the 23rd China International Young Fashion Designers Contest show at China Fashion Week in Beijing, March 25, 2015. Jason Lee/REUTERS

Source: 2006 study in Sleep Medicine

Prophylactic napping has been related to lower car accident rates, especially among police officers.

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Delegates rest during a break of the plenary session at the UN Climate Change Conference COP 20 in Lima, Peru on December 13, 2014. Enrique Castro-Mendivil/REUTERS

Source: 2004 study in Sleep

Research shows that pilots who take "strategic naps," even lasting as short as 10 minutes, can help them fly safer and feel more rested.

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A businessman takes a mid-day nap in the lobby of a midtown hotel in Manhattan on August 1, 2014. Carlo Allegri/REUTERS

Source: 2014 study in Accident Analysis & Prevention

College students who took short afternoon naps had more energy and better moods.

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A student takes a nap on a desk during his lunch break in a classroom in Hefei, China on June 2, 2012. Stringer/REUTERS

Source: 1976 study in Journal of Abnormal Psychology

Taking a midday nap has been shown to increase visual learning and performance over the course of a day, compared to staying awake.

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A boy sleeps in a hammock while his mother works at a brick kiln on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar on February 1, 2015. Soe Zeya Tun/REUTERS

Source: 2002 study in Nature Neuroscience

Naps have also been linked to decreased confusion.

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A member of the Samaritan sect takes a nap near sheep carcasses before they are grilled during a traditional Passover sacrifice ceremony on Mount Gerizim, near the West Bank city of Nablus on May 4, 2012. Nir Elias/REUTERS

Source: 2009 study in the Journal of Sleep Research

Not surprisingly, people report feeling less sleepy when they take naps.

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Revelers sleep on a bench after the second running of the bulls during the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 8, 2012. Susana Vera/REUTERS

Source: 2008 study in the Journal of Sleep Research

Taken as a whole, naps can be delightfully beneficial for your overall health and wellbeing. So what are you waiting for?

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Parents of students sleep on mats laid out on the floor of a gymnasium inside a university campus in Wuhan, China on September 3, 2007. REUTERS/Stringer

Source: 2009 review article in the Journal of Sleep Research

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Rebecca Harrington
Rebecca was an Executive Editor for Business Insider's news division, overseeing the Science, Speed news, Weekend news, LA news, Visual Features, and Voices of Color desks. She worked across teams to assign, coordinate, and edit breaking news, explainers, features, analysis, and investigations. She also developed guides, trainings, and coaching opportunities for the newsroom to get better every day.Rebecca started as a reporter on Tech Insider's science section in 2015, covering everything from solar energy and rocket launches to Zika, before moving to the news team during the summer of 2016 at the height of the presidential election and then running weekend coverage for 2 years. She's previously worked with the Politics, Military & Defense, and Video teams, and served as an editorial liaison with the product team that powers the CMS.She received her Master's degree from the Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program at New York University, as well as a BS in Biology and a BA in Journalism from the University of Minnesota. Rebecca has also written for Popular Science, Scientific American, Scienceline, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and the Minnesota Daily.ExpertiseBreaking news, legal analysis, criminal justice, police misconduct, public health, abortion, space, energy, visual features, extreme weather, White House history, voting rights, executive actionsPopular articlesJust don't call it 'climate change': What Republicans in Dallas can teach us about saving the planetWhat Buzz Aldrin was thinking when he left the moonHow the 25th Amendment works to remove a sitting presidentHurricane categories tell only part of the storyTRUMP'S FIRST 100 DAYS: Here's how they compare with Obama's, Bush's, and Clinton's
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