Assalaamu alaykum akhi
According to the hanafi madhab, if you don't pray Sunnah mu'akkadah prayers your prayer will still be valid but incomplete (I don't know about the other madhaahib, but for sure in the hanaafi madhab sunnah mu'akkadah is compulsory) Sunnah ghayr mu'akkadah prayers are those you don't pray at specific time : istikhaarah, tahajjud, tawba, al haaja...
So actually
there's two kinds of nawafil :
Sunnah mu'akkadah (arrawaatib) a.k.a the rak'as you perform after and before dhuhr, after maghrib...
and
Sunnah ghayr mu'akkadah a.k.a istikhaarah, salaatu tawba, salaatul haaja...
So yes if you had to choose between what is commonly called sunnah (=sunnah mu'akkadah) and what is commonly called nafl (=sunnah ghair mu'akkadah) then yes you should pray sunnah (sunnah mu'akkadah) ones.
WaLLahu a'lam
I'm sorry if im confusing you brother
Question
What is the difference between Sunnah, and nafl prayers. I try my best to pray the five obligatory prayers, but I am a bit confused with the nafl prayers. Can you also please enlighten me on how to pray witr prayers after `Isha’?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
According to the Hanafi School, the Sunnah is higher in degree than nafl. The Sunnah is defined as "what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) constantly thought it was not considered wajib".
And nafl is defined as "what has been done by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) but not all the time." So what is called nafl is istikhaarah, salaatu tawba, tahajjud.... because you don't pray them on a specific time and not all the time= sunnah ghayr mu'akkadah
Example of the Sunnah is the two Rak'ahs before Fajr, but praying six Rak'ahs after the Sunnah prayer of Maghrib is nafl.
Witr is highly recommended to be offered before sleep. You can either pray one Rak'ah or three. It is recommended to say the Sunnah du'a' or, if you can't, just make any du'a'.