If you think taking a nap in the office seems counter-productive, think again. Research from the National Institute of Industrial Health in Japan suggests that a midday rest enables us to perform at optimal levels.
Time for a nap
‘Naptime’ may sound like a scheduled activity in kindergarten, right after lunchtime. But companies like Google and Nike have installed napping rooms in their premises, in a bid to boost the productivity and alertness of their grown up employees.
Even some state-run Chinese companies are known to allow some degree of napping on-the-job.
Research by NASA’s “Fatigue Countermeasures Program” showed that naps were incredibly beneficial for improving mental alertness. Pilots who were allowed a short nap improved their performance by 34 per cent, and their alertness by 54 per cent.
In the last leg of their flight, pilots who napped registered 34 microsleeps—instances where your brain dozes off for a split second—compared to 120 microsleeps for pilots who didn’t take naps.
Two Japanese researchers, Masaya Takahashi and Heihachiro Arito, have even made sleep their work.
They examined the effects of a fifteen-minute post-lunch nap on a group of students. The students were only allowed four hours of sleep the night before. However, they were allowed a fifteen-minute short nap after lunchtime, before performing tasks that involved using logical reasoning and digit span.
Seven days later, they underwent the same four hours of sleep at night and the same performance testing. This time, they were not allowed to nap. Results showed that the fifteen-minute post-lunch nap rest improved the subsequent alertness and logical reasoning of the sleep impaired participants. They also demonstrated improved task accuracy, with significantly fewer errors made.
No wonder the stigma of sleeping on the job is changing.
Napping 101
If you have an important presentation that you need to be alert for, especially if you have been majorly sleep deprived or feel mentally fatigued, indulging in a lunchtime siesta might be better than that fifth cup of coffee.
What’s the proper nap etiquette? Here are some tips.
According to Dr. Sara Mednick, a sleep researcher from University of California, Riverside, a 20-minute nap “in the afternoon, right after lunch, would be ideal.”
During lunch hour, look for an empty room. Turn off the lights and put your phone on ‘silent’. If you can’t find a room, try napping at your desk, using your jacket as a pillow. Perhaps just as important is not to forget to set your alarm.
Dr. Mednick claims that you will reach stage 2 sleep during your short nap, known as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is good for improving creativity and perceptual ability.
Ms Tan Zi Jie, a Corporate Communications officer at Singapore Customs, agrees that “a short nap may do wonders for a worker’s productivity”.
She cheekily adds: “If I were to try napping during lunchtime, the ideal space would be under my desk – I could buy a safari bed and install it there. That way, it’s quiet and dim, plus you get privacy!”
So the next time you’re in a sleep crunch, maximise your lunch hour and set your phone alarm for twenty minutes. Time to catch some Zs!
Stacey Wee is a writer-monster at Digital Boomerang. She oozes creativity from her pores.Related posts: