What Happens To Your Body When You Nap Every Day?

For those who feel chronically tired and overworked, a daily nap sounds like the perfect remedy. A midday snooze might also be the answer to your beauty woes, since some argue that naps are the secret to good skin. If you work from home or regularly have spare time to yourself during daylight hours, the fantasy of sneaking in a nap every day may become a reality. And according to board-certified physician and certified clinical sleep specialist Dr. Holliday-Bell, that can be a very good thing. "Napping improves creativity, mental clarity, energy, motivation, decreases stress and improves overall well-being," she reveals exclusively to Glam.

But in spite of these benefits, Dr. Holliday-Bell also emphasizes that napping under the wrong circumstances can negatively impact your sleep. So, the full picture indicates that regular naps can affect your body for better and for worse depending on factors like the length of your snooze session. As long as you're controlling these important elements, scheduling a regular sleep break may be a worthy addition to your routine. 

Dr. Holliday-Bell has good news for serial nappers, revealing in our exclusive chat that regularly napping is harmless as long as you follow a few guidelines. "The potential downsides of napping really occur only if you are napping too long or too late in the day," she explains. If you nap too late in the afternoon or for a long period of time, you may find that you don't feel as tired when it's really time to go to bed, or it may be more difficult to slip into your usual sleep cycle. Though those who are more sensitive may not be able to nap at all, most people should aim to keep their naps "somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes and take them earlier in the day before 3 p.m.," according to Dr. Holliday-Bell.

To get the most out of your midday nap, try to snooze in a quiet and dark place where you'll be able to relax uninterrupted for 30 minutes. Also, remember to turn off your devices for that time, and if necessary, let others know that you'll be unavailable for a while. If you can't truly relax, then your nap won't be anything more than wasted time, and may even lead to more stress. 

"It is perfectly fine to nap every day as long as they are short and kept earlier in the day," Dr. Holliday-Bell tells Glam exclusively, adding that breaking these rules "can steal from your sleep drive and impact your overall sleep." As long as you keep your siestas under half an hour and limit them to the early afternoon, you can enjoy the aforementioned benefits without worrying about losing sleep at night. And everything from your digestive health to your social life can be negatively affected by your sleep schedule, so this is one problem you don't want to create for yourself by napping carelessly. 

While napping doesn't inherently harm your health or well-being, Dr. Holliday-Bell does note that feeling tired enough to nap every day may point to existing problems with your sleep quality and quantity. Napping feels great, but it "should be icing on the cake to good quality sleep overnight," Dr. Holliday-Bell explains. If you're feeling overly tired every day, it's a good idea to evaluate your current sleep schedule and ensure you're actually getting into a deep sleep rather than constantly waking up in the middle of the night.