Power Nap

If you start to feel as though you're going to doze off at work, take a quick power nap to rejuvenate.

We've all had those moments: Usually sometime after lunch, we start to feel lethargic. Our limbs grow heavy and our thinking becomes fuzzy. The sounds around us grow muted, and the e-mail we're trying to read doesn't make much sense.

Then it happens -- the eyelids begin to feel like 10-pound weights and the head begins to bob.

We jerk upright as we lurch forward, hoping that no one saw us nearly fall asleep on the job. When it happens again, we grab the candy bar in our desk drawer or head for the coffee pot, looking for the jolt of caffeine needed to keep us awake and alert.

But according to sleep studies, we'd be a whole lot better off -- and so would our employers -- if we simply curled up somewhere and went to sleep for a while.

Just like when we were young and needed a nap when we became cranky, tired and unfocused, American adults need a rest period every day in order to perform their best, researchers say. But just the word "nap" is likely to stir controversy in the workplace.

"Talking about taking a nap makes people look at you like you're sleeping with the boss or selling heroin at work," says Dr. Sara C. Mednick, a researcher at the Salk Institute at the University of California, San Diego, and a nap guru. "It's like it's an unbelievably illicit experience."

Mednick says that not only do American workers need to take a nap, but their companies should require it. Studies have shown that sleepy workers have more accidents, are less productive, are more prone to health problems and have poorer morale. Companies that provide a place for workers to nap will reap the rewards many times over with more creative, happier and healthier employees who are more loyal and efficient, she says.

Still, Mednick says she knows it's very hard to convince Americans -- who believe hard work 24/7 breeds success -- that napping can have a great payoff.

"It's really a lack of foresight," she says. "People just keep working as they are, thinking that they'll have time later to deal with it. But it's like the environment, in that you have to do something now in order to affect the future in a positive way."

Mednick says that napping can "change your life," which is why she has written a book with Mark Ehrman called Take a Nap! Change your life, (Workman, $12.95) that outlines how anyone can -- and should -- incorporate napping into any lifestyle. It provides useful tips on napping, including finding the ideal nap time and duration for you. Some ideas from the book include:

You must be your own sleep therapist. That means you have to understand when, where and how you best can take a nap. Maybe it's in your car at lunch, maybe it's on a mat in a quiet room or maybe it's putting your feet on your desk. You may need to nap only five minutes, or you may require more than an hour, depending on your own body clock.

Napping takes practice. Stress might indeed keep you awake when you first try to nap, but chances are that if you practice relaxation techniques and keep at it, you will soon be able to drop off on a regular basis. Also, many people are sleeping even though they believe they are awake.

Making napping a priority. Don't think that a soda or snack will perk you up and help you get something done. In fact, snacking is just another sign that your body needs sleep. Researchers have found that learning after a nap is equal to learning after a full night's sleep. Test scores of non-nappers were found to drop throughout the day as they became more tired.

Throw out your preconceived notions of napping. Scientists have shown that you get sleepy after lunch no matter what you eat; you are groggy after a nap not because of the nap, but because you need more sleep; and the sleep you get from a nap is just as beneficial as the sleep you get at night.

"I'm not saying you should risk your job in order to take a nap, but I do think that as more of these studies about sleep come out, you're going to see more companies let employees take a nap," Mednick says. "I think it's going to start to sink in how important it is."

Anita Bruzzese is author of "45 Things You Do That Drive Your Boss Crazy . . . and How to Avoid Them," (www.45things.com). Write to her c/o: Business Editor, Gannett News Service, 7950 Jones Branch Dr., McLean, Va. 22107. For a reply, include a SASE.

Labels: nap, power nap, powernap

# posted by Mr.Sandman @ 4:31 PM