I think our pre-school and kindergarten teachers had it right: at a certain point in the day, you just need to close your eyes, and if possible, get some shut-eye. Even in the "adult world" of 9 to 5 work, there's just something about "shutting down" both your computer and your mind for about fifteen minutes per day that just re-starts your brain, and makes you even more productive when you wake up.
But why won't people admit that napping--a practice rooted in childhood--could actually boost productivity in adult environments? After all, the statistics are there to support the benefits of napping: according to the National Sleep Foundation, "[a] study at NASA on sleepy military pilots and astronauts found that a 40-minute nap improved performance by 34% and alertness 100%." Researchers at the Center for Sleep and Consciousness also discovered that sleep's basic function is to "remove the noise" accumulated in the brain from tasks performed each day, allowing the brain to "refresh" itself. The University of Wisconsin's Sleep and Medicine Program also states on their site that sleep is vital for proper brain function: "Some experts believe sleep gives neurons a chance to maintain themselves. Without sleep, neurons may become so overloaded by normal cellular activities that they begin to malfunction." Why not give our brain the help it needs with a fifteen or twenty minute nap each day to recover and consequently, be more productive?
We're a long way from providing an assigned "nap time" for those who work in offices, but I'm doing my part as a business owner and considering the benefits for our employees, all of whom stare at bright computer screens for more than eight hours a day, working on multiple projects. Even if the solution is something as simple as asking people to take fifteen minutes each afternoon to simply shut their eyes and recharge, something has to be done to beat the afternoon "drag" when the brain starts to feel the fatigue of the day. Who knows, we might even have to take one of our empty spaces here at the office and create a dedicated relaxation room...
Naps also restore creativity and revitalize the spirit.
For centuries, monasteries have touted naps after lunch to rout the "Noonday Devil," or that elusive sluggishness that makes one tire of being conscious or committed. In the secular world, the Noonday Devil grabs hold of our some of our best ideas, then spaces us out until time has oozed away and the idea is forgotten. A nap shuts down our over-worked left brains and obsessive mind chatter. Once we wake, all those intuitive and creative parts of the brain are more alive, and we've now got plenty of energy to the Devil and his pals (especially Fear or Lack of Confidence). It worked for Edison, Winston Churchill and John F. Kennedy -- all of whom where committed nappers.
Pat McHenry Sullivan, Spirit and Work Resource Center