Dr. Eduard Estivill, sleep and rest expert, on the best restorative habit: “You drink a coffee and immediately fall asleep”

Sleeping during the day remains, for many, a small everyday luxury. For others, it is an impossible habit amid meetings, screens and split schedules. Yet there is a simple, little-known and surprisingly effective practice that could change how we think about daytime rest. That is the view of Eduard Estivill, one of Europe’s leading sleep-medicine specialists, with more than 35 years of experience.

The proposal overturns one of the most deeply rooted ideas about rest – that caffeine and sleep are natural enemies. According to Estivill, when used correctly, they can become allies. The technique is as simple as it is counterintuitive: drink a coffee and lie down immediately afterward for a very short nap, lasting between 10 and 15 minutes. No longer. That time window is not arbitrary.

Sleeping right after a coffee

“You drink a coffee and immediately fall asleep. You can sleep for 10 or 15 minutes – that’s the time it takes for caffeine to start having an effect – and when that 10-minute nap ends, you wake up with the restorative power of the nap plus the caffeine,” he explains on the Zoomout podcast. “This is serious work, and nobody has talked about this before,” he adds.

The body takes several minutes to absorb caffeine and begin to feel its stimulating effects. That interval coincides with the ideal length of a brief nap – long enough to disconnect, but not long enough to slip into deep sleep.

The result, according to Estivill, is a double benefit. On waking, the body has gained the restorative effect of the nap while the stimulating action of the coffee is just beginning to kick in. The combination allows for greater mental clarity and a stronger sense of energy than either coffee or a nap would provide on their own.

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