It has happened to all of us, especially now that the day is shorter: You come home after a tiring morning, full of obligations. You look at the clock. It’s still early, you manage to take a short nap and then continue with your work. You wake up and promise it will be for a very short time. You fall asleep and wake up after two hours. It’s getting dark. You are confused, disoriented, you don’t know what time it is and how long you were asleep. You feel an irritation and need time to adjust to reality.

Why is this happening;

Many TikTok users have recently been sharing their unpleasant experiences after taking a nap, confirming that this is a real phenomenon that many are dealing with. Some claim that it only takes a few minutes to recover, while others take hours to get rid of this strange mood, resulting in a significant impact on their daily life.

Naps are not always refreshing

According to clinical psychologist and sleep health director at Sleepopolis, Shelby Harris, a bad mood after a nap lasting more than 30 minutes is actually quite likely to happen. A long nap can lead to something called “sleep inertia,” and the feeling of it is anything but refreshing. “It’s about that feeling of restlessness and disorientation that you can feel after a nap, especially if it’s been too long,” the expert explains to Bustle.

As you sleep, your body travels through different stages of sleep. Each stage gradually deepens and the entire cycle lasts about 90 minutes before repeating again. So when you sleep for more than half an hour, you may enter a deeper stage of sleep, and if you wake up during this stage, you are likely to feel discomfort and disorientation.

Of course, there are many factors that affect mood, but a bad night’s sleep clearly doesn’t help.

How to enjoy your afternoon nap without consequences

If you often wake up in a bad mood after a nap, but insist on wanting to rest for a while, set an alarm on your phone so you don’t sleep more than 30 minutes. By keeping your rest short, you won’t be able to enter the stage of deep sleep and thus avoid the possibility of waking up in a strange mood. If you’re feeling exhausted and think half an hour isn’t enough to rest, experts recommend aiming for a full two hours of sleep. During this time, you will go through all the stages of sleep, so you are more likely to feel good when you wake up.

According to dr. Harris, it’s also a good idea to avoid a nap after 2pm. Finally, after each sleep, it is good to be exposed to light immediately, which will immediately bring you back to alertness and will not leave you room to feel strange.