While no clear ‘winning nap duration’ was found, Dr Leong revealed that “a 30-minute nap appears to have the best trade off between practicability and benefit”. It’s also worth noting that while the evidence tends to suggest that shorter naps can supercharge our day, longer periods of sleep have been associated with grogginess upon waking and disrupted sleep later in the day.

And as for why you naturally start to feel ever so slightly drowsy in the early afternoon? It’s rooted in your body’s circadian rhythm. It’s natural to feel awake in the day and then become increasingly tired as the evening draws in, but between the hours of 1-3pm, our body temperature drops and melatonin rises, which act as cues for the body to want to sleep.

Time to set your phone timer to 30 minutes and squeeze in some extra Zzzs – but if you need some further convincing before you drift off, here are just some of the other mental health benefits of a siesta…

A nap could help you keep a cooler head in stressful situations

Prone to making impulsive decisions or snapping at others as the working day drags on? A short nap has been shown to be an effective remedy. Research published in 2015 used a group of 40 subjects to measure impulsivity and tolerance for frustration, and the participants who broke up their working day with a quick burst of shut-eye “showed a decrease in self-reported impulsivity and increased tolerance for frustration, while those in the no-nap condition showed the opposite pattern”, according to the study’s authors.

A 30-minute nap could boost your mood and memory – and those aren’t the only benefits