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Why Companies Should Insist that Employees Take Naps

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Re: Why Companies Should Insist that Employees Take Naps

#41

Post by mxavier »

Psyonic wrote: post #27
elbenshira wrote: post #11

A friend and I have this running agreement that if we ever do a startup together, we will force all employees to take a nap after lunch. As a college student, I understand how useful naps are. Students live in short bursts of concentration during the day (e.g. when in class), and that 30 minute nap between classes is a life saver. Heck, a lot of our conversations involve talking about naps in its intricate details. L…

Not everyone can nap well. I can't sleep in the day. Even when really tired, if I try, I end up half-sleeping, waking up feeling really weird with my heart beating faster than normal. I have fallen asleep before (on a bus or something), but basically always on accident and never when I try to. Although I guess there are probably few enough people like me that excluding us won't really harm you, it still seems over-th…

I find myself in the same position. I wish naps were more effective for me because I tend to hit a slump around 2:30 or 3PM, but I find that when I nap, I wake up feeling dehydrated, confused, and in a surprisingly bad mood.

Re: Why Companies Should Insist that Employees Take Naps

#42

Post by chipsy »

lutorm wrote: post #31

In "The Promise of Sleep", the author talks about naps and getting tired in the afternoon, and his conclusion is that the only reason people get tired in the afternoon (which is when your clock-dependent alerting is at its lowest) is because they are sleep deprived. If you are well rested and don't have sleep debt, you should not get tired at that time. Having consciously tried to get enough sleep over the past 2 yea…

I think lunch can also be to blame for afternoon fatigue, depending on what you eat.

Re: Why Companies Should Insist that Employees Take Naps

#43

Post by ScottBurson »

elbenshira wrote: post #11

A friend and I have this running agreement that if we ever do a startup together, we will force all employees to take a nap after lunch. As a college student, I understand how useful naps are. Students live in short bursts of concentration during the day (e.g. when in class), and that 30 minute nap between classes is a life saver. Heck, a lot of our conversations involve talking about naps in its intricate details. L…

"30 minute nap between classes" -- heh, that's not how I remember it :) I had one class right after lunch, on Special Relativity. I was interested in the subject (it was an elective), but the lecturer's voice was quite monotonous and I rarely stayed awake through the whole class...

Re: Why Companies Should Insist that Employees Take Naps

#44

Post by markstansbury »

chipsy wrote: post #42
lutorm wrote: post #31

In "The Promise of Sleep", the author talks about naps and getting tired in the afternoon, and his conclusion is that the only reason people get tired in the afternoon (which is when your clock-dependent alerting is at its lowest) is because they are sleep deprived. If you are well rested and don't have sleep debt, you should not get tired at that time. Having consciously tried to get enough sleep over the past 2 yea…

I think lunch can also be to blame for afternoon fatigue, depending on what you eat.

After my surf-and-turf, three-martini lunches, I do tend to get drowsy

Re: Why Companies Should Insist that Employees Take Naps

#45

Post by housel »

askar_yu wrote: post #5

I work at an international Chinese company and what surprised me first was that almost all of our Chinese engineers take nap after lunch (even the ones who come for temporary business trip) I have an impression that taking naps is heavily practiced in Chinese corporate culture...

When I worked in Taiwan the office lights were normally turned off for 20-30 minutes after lunch while colleagues napped. I personally was seldom able to manage a nap, however.

Re: Why Companies Should Insist that Employees Take Naps

#47

Post by elbenshira »

Psyonic wrote: post #27
elbenshira wrote: post #11

A friend and I have this running agreement that if we ever do a startup together, we will force all employees to take a nap after lunch. As a college student, I understand how useful naps are. Students live in short bursts of concentration during the day (e.g. when in class), and that 30 minute nap between classes is a life saver. Heck, a lot of our conversations involve talking about naps in its intricate details. L…

Not everyone can nap well. I can't sleep in the day. Even when really tired, if I try, I end up half-sleeping, waking up feeling really weird with my heart beating faster than normal. I have fallen asleep before (on a bus or something), but basically always on accident and never when I try to. Although I guess there are probably few enough people like me that excluding us won't really harm you, it still seems over-th…

We obviously won't force people to take naps, but I want an atmosphere where napping (or just resting) is encouraged and not looked down upon.

And you're right, sometimes I can't fall asleep during my naps, but that's OK for me. Then I just make it into a relaxing/meditation session.

Re: Why Companies Should Insist that Employees Take Naps

#48

Post by elbenshira »

mxavier wrote: post #41
Psyonic wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not everyone can nap well. I can't sleep in the day. Even when really tired, if I try, I end up half-sleeping, waking up feeling really weird with my heart beating faster than normal. I have fallen asleep before (on a bus or something), but basically always on accident and never when I try to. Although I guess there are probably few enough people like me that excluding us won't really harm you, it still seems over-th…

I find myself in the same position. I wish naps were more effective for me because I tend to hit a slump around 2:30 or 3PM, but I find that when I nap, I wake up feeling dehydrated, confused, and in a surprisingly bad mood.

It's probably because you wake up when you're in REM (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_eye_movement_sleep). The key is to wake up before you hit REM. I wake up after 30 minutes because I usually will hit REM if I nap for longer.

Re: Why Companies Should Insist that Employees Take Naps

#50

Post by JoeAltmaier »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #46

Marginal result - taking an hour out of an 8-hour day is 12.5% drop right there. Hard to make that up in the remaining time, with a small percentage increase in productivity.

Don't get me wrong - I'd love an excuse for a nap! But its guaranteed to burn the hours involved, for a marginal increase in productivity.
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