Take a Nap at Work: Be More Productive?

In the recent article “Why You Need to Take a Nap at Work” from ABC News, I found statistics showing that a mid-day nap at work could increase your overall productivity throughout the day.  Shocking? I think so.  A NASA study also proves this to be true: it shows that a nap of just 26 short minutes could increase your performance up to 34 percent! 

“I found it helps with memory processing, alertness, and learning new skills,” she said. “We live with less than our recommended eight hours, and that means so many things — decreased sex drive, decreased productivity, and fatigue-related accidents. Napping helps with all of these things.”

This quote came straight from the expert, Dr. Sara C. Mednick, author of the book “Take a Nap! Change Your Life”.  In her book, Mednick gives all kinds of tips to get the most out of your afternoon nap.  She says that prime naptime is between 1pm and 3pm, and the “mini dip in energy” that we all experience is in fact biological, not because you just ate lunch :).  Most naps up to 90 minutes will not interfere with your sleep at night, and anything from 20 minutes on up is worth the revival!

I think that especially if studies support it, a mid-day nap at work is a great idea.  Many of us haven’t had a set aside “nap time” since preschool or kindegarten, and if it worked then, why not now!?  Statistics strongly state that the effects of this can greatly increase your energy, productivity and performance.  If Americans in the work force could sieze this opportunity, I believe that workers would no longer cost businesses up to $150 billion a year in lost productivity, and it would make everyone feel better about the jobs that they must perform.

Mednick, Sara. “Why You Need to Take a Nap at Work.” ABC News 29/1/07 31/1/07 http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=2831235&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312.