Defend Your Habit of Napping at Work

Are you the kind of person who not only believes in the worth of naps but is living proof that they improve your day? If you're a nap devotee who carries your napping activities through to work time, you may need to be prepared to defend your naps in a world where productivity and performance measurement don't usually take naps into account. Be informed and be prepared to inform about the worth of the workplace nap with these following suggestions.

Steps

  1. Do your research on the value of naps. It helps to have a scientific arsenal at your fingertips with easily quotable facts about the benefits of napping, in general and perhaps more specifically, while on the job. Some benefits you might quote include:
    • Napping improves both your productivity and your mood according to Boston University professor William Anthony.[1]
    • NASA scientists encourage astronauts to take naps to combat sleeplessness and thereby minimize "irritability, forgetfulness and fatigue".
    • Naps can help you to improve your ability to solve complex problems.
    • A 15 minute nap can rejuvenate an exhausted worker and can be better than a cup of coffee.[1] A 20 minute "power nap" can refresh you.[2]
    • A 90-180 minute nap can be "restorative" and help overcome sleep deprivation (although this is only recommended for the weekend).[2]
    • Those who nap regularly have been shown to have a reduced risk of heart disease.[3]
    • Life in countries where siestas exist is more balanced and less workaholic. This might only interest a boss heading a creative, quirky firm interested in work-life balance though.
    • If you're doing shift work, napping can be beneficial as a tool for maintaining vigilance and alertness during the shift. To this end, the UK Royal College of Physicians recommends a 30 minute nap after every 4 hours worked.[4]
  2. Be aware that your boss will be looking for reasons that relate to your productivity at work. Your boss is less likely to be interested in the benefits of napping to your long-term health; after all, long-term you could be well out of that job!
  3. Explain to your boss that you don't take your naps on work time. Schedule naps during breaks or lunch, or make up for the nap time by working the extra minutes at day's end. Show your boss how you work this out on your time-sheet, to reassure him or her.
  4. Nap out of sight. One of the concerns a boss is likely to have is that you at-work napping looks unproductive. Even though you'll be swearing black and blue that it is one of the most productive things you can do to stay alert on the job, by staying out of sight when napping, you'll at least avoid any misplaced thoughts that you're slacking off in full view. Reassure your boss by explaining that you choose to nap in such places as the car, under the desk, in the sick room, in the locker room, behind a door, wherever.
    • In places like Tokyo and New York City, it is possible to buy nap spots in "pods" for set periods of time. You might like to take advantage of these offers if you can't justify the work nap but still need your day nap.
  5. Offer to share your napping knowledge and skills around the office. Perhaps encouraging everyone else to feel better and more refreshed would be a good thing if your office is a place of constant pressure and stress. Offering your training services as a nap guru based on the grounds of improving office harmony and productivity might be one way of encouraging acceptance of the role of the nap at work. In this case, inform your boss that some enlightened businesses have already included napping space in their offices, such as Yarde Metals in Bristol, Connecticut.[1]
    • Expect most bosses to say no initially. Be persistent and persuasive.
    • Tie your offer to "National Workplace Napping Day", an unofficial US-wide event created by a Boston University professor; the day aims to encourage the nap in the workplace.[1]

Tips

  • It might help your boss to understand if you say that instead of a smoke or a brief walk, you choose to take a short nap instead.
  • Many great people believed in the virtue of the nap, on the job too. People who napped included Napoleon, Churchill, President Kennedy and Thomas Edison, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan.[1] Indeed, Churchill once quipped: "Don’t think you will be doing less work because you sleep during the day. That’s a foolish notion held by people who have no imagination. You will accomplish more. You get two days in one – well, at least one and a half, I’m sure."

Warnings

  • Despite your best arguments, your boss may not be convinced. You'll have to weigh up the value of a nap at work versus having a job to go to.
  • Daytime napping can disrupt the nighttime sleep cycle, thereby reducing your efficiency. To avoid this problem, it's recommended that you don't nap after 1pm.[2]

Related Articles

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=87232&page=1
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 http://blogs.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/2006/01/power-naps.html
  3. ↑ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/12/AR2007021200626.html
  4. ↑ Dr Chris Idzikowski, Need to know? Sleep, p. 111, (2007), ISBN 978-0-00-720223-2

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