Always thought ‘coffee and sleep’ combo was a no-go? Think again

Coffee and sleep; just two of the greatest parts of any day, amirite?

And while we love them both in equal measure, we generally adhere to the guideline that mixing them is a pointless endeavour.

We need coffee to wake us up, so why would we down a cup before taking a nap? Well, because science says so, that's why.

According to Professor Chin Moi Chow of the University of Sydney, mixing coffee and a short nap is a surefire way to inject a little more energy into your day.

In a piece composed for The Conversation, Professor Chow explained that in order to maximise the impact coffee has on our energy levels, we should use the intial stages of absorbtion to grab some shut-eye.

"When you drink a coffee, the caffeine stays in the stomach for a while before moving to the small intestine,” he writes.

"It is from here that caffeine is absorbed and distributed throughout the body. This process, from drinking to absorption, takes 45 minutes."

“But caffeine’s alerting effect kicks in sooner, about 30 minutes after drinking. So, drinking a coffee just before a short nap of less than 15 minutes doesn’t affect the nap as your body hasn’t yet experienced the caffeine hit.”

Put simply, a short nap allows time for the coffee to kick in, so not only will you awake from your nap refreshed due to, you know, sleep, but then the caffeine will start working its magic.

"Once you wake up from your nap, not only do you experience the hit, your body feels the effects of the caffeine hours later,” explains Prof. Chow.

“It is this caffeine hit after you wake up and the “long tail” of caffeine in your body that helps you power through the day."

And while that's all well and good in the evening or at the weekend, we can't see our employers agreeing to a much-needed caffeine nap once that infamous 3pm slump kicks in.