Health and wellbeing

In Defence of the Afternoon Nap

There was a time when admitting to an afternoon nap was tantamount to confessing idleness, and in many workplaces it still is. Yet a growing body of research suggests that a short sleep of twenty minutes or so after lunch can do a great deal to restore [1] (ALERT), sharpening concentration for the remainder of the day without leaving the sleeper groggy. The key, sleep researchers stress, lies in the timing: a nap that stretches much beyond half an hour risks plunging the body into deep sleep, from which waking is a disorientating experience. Some forward-looking employers have begun to install quiet rooms for precisely this purpose, though staff are often reluctant to use them, fearing that colleagues will interpret a closed door as a lack of commitment. Changing the culture, it seems, may prove harder than changing the furniture.