Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Sep 17, 2025

How long are your afternoon naps? It shouldn’t be more than 30mins, an expert on BBC’s The Science of Sleep says

How long are your afternoon naps? It shouldn’t be more than 30mins, an expert on BBC’s The Science of Sleep says

Stayed up last night to catch up on the hottest drama series? With working from home becoming a norm, chances are, you’ll be tempted to take a nap during your lunch break.

But how long does science say you should actually nap for? If you’re thinking of snoozing the entire lunch hour away, you’re in for a shock.

According to Professor Jason Ellis, Professor in Psychology at Northumbria University and Director of the Northumbria Centre for Sleep Research, the ideal daytime nap length is actually no more than 30 minutes.

“The difficulty is, if you’ve napped for a long time – over 30 minutes – it’s going to detract from the sleep that you get at night,” Prof Ellis says in The Science of Sleep: How to Sleep Better, a new BBC programme on how sleep quality can be improved.

The two-episode programme, which premiered on BBC Earth and BBC Player last Thursday (May 21), followed various people in the UK as they sought professional treatment for their sleep troubles.

It also documented a small-scale sleep deprivation experiment involving four young individuals who usually do not have sleep problems. The two men and two women featured spent 48 hours awake in a luxury home, and were put through various tests to see how extreme lack of sleep affected their ability to function normally.


What to do if you’re sleepy while driving


In one particular test, Prof Ellis puts the participants through a driving simulator test after they’ve gone without sleep for 29 hours.

They are told to keep to a speed of 30 miles/hour (48km/hour), but due to their sleepiness, the participants still found themselves veering off the road. A facial detection system was also used to alert them when they fell into microsleep, which can last anywhere from 5 to 15 seconds.

Drowsy driving (or driving while sleep deprived) has been said to be as dangerous as driving while under the influence of alcohol. The National Sleep Foundation in the US says that driving after being awake for 24 hours is comparable to driving with a blood alcohol level of .10. According to the non-profit, someone with a level of .08 is considered drunk.

In The Science of Sleep, Prof Ellis said drivers who feel sleepy while driving should pull over and have some caffeine before napping for about 20 to 30 minutes. “By the time you wake up, that caffeine will be keeping you alert again,” he said.


Risky behaviour increases when sleep deprived


And because sleep deprivation impairs a person’s ability to make decisions, participants were also found to be more impulsive and took more risks after 38 hours of being awake.

In another test conducted during the programme, three out of four participants made riskier decisions than they did when they were well-rested.

This change in behaviour is caused by less glucose reaching the prefrontal cortex – which controls decision making and impulsiveness – when one is sleep deprived. This means the brain has less energy to think things through properly, so risky behaviour increases.

The programme also suggests that this is probably why impulsive online shopping is more likely to occur between 12am to 6am.

So now you know what to do if you’re trying to save money – get a good night’s rest!

The second and final episode of The Science of Sleep: How to Sleep Better will air at 9.50pm (Singapore time) on May 28 via BBC Earth (StarHub Channel 407) and BBC Player.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
×