It’s believed that sleep people are responsible for vast majority of industrial accidents. In fact, lack of sleep is cited as one of the factors of Chernobyl and Exxon Valdez disasters. Sleepy drivers will more likely cause accidents, just like drunk drivers. Brief afternoon nap is a common habit in many countries in Central America, East Asia and Southern Europe. Studies have shown that our body needs afternoon naps. Our body is working on the 24-hour clock. Our body winds down between 12AM and 6AM, also three hours after lunch. It’s far easier for us to sleep in the afternoon and at night. After lunch, our blood glucose level will eventually go down due to the response to insulin after a heavy meal. As we are experiencing drowsiness, it will be easier for us get a nap.
Napping is a good thing for our body, but it’s often gets a bad rap. People who have nap regularly are often stigmatized as being non productive, lack of drive or frivolous. However, it has been shown that people who take a nap regularly will become more productive. By napping, you can become much more productive. Some offices have special rooms where employees can take a brief nap. If you want to have quality sleep, make sure that you avoid coffee during lunch and abstain from alcohol. You will also have better nap by exercising moderately in the morning. Listening to soothing music should also help you to sleep better after lunch.
What you need to achieve is to have a power nap that may last only for 20 minutes. You need to focus on the benefit of catnapping, instead of how long you should sleep during the day. The sleep pattern of power nap is related to the polyphasic sleep and it’s more about supplementing your normal sleep. Even if you don’t have power deficit at night, a brief nap is still needed to keep you productive and alert. If you plan to have catnap each day, make sure that you know what’s the best time and duration. In reality, many people don’t actually know that they need catnap. They experience steady decline of performance and alertness after lunch. But, they can’t take a nap due to more restrictive office culture. Fortunately, you can train your napping skill and you can gain more benefits by having regular naps.
Businesses should consider whether they should allow their employees to take a brief nap. Not only that employees can be more productive, they can also make better decision quicker. Obviously, having a 15-minute brief nap is better than working sluggishly for four hours until it’s time to go home. In this case, businesses can do experiment by comparing workers who are allowed to have regular naps and workers who work immediately after lunch. It means that there has to be a drastic change in workplace culture and managers need to be more flexible. You should make sure that you do the right things.
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