Nap Your Way to Higher Productivity and a Happier, Healthier Lifestyle

By Alexander Duncan, B.A. (Hon.), FMA

“something you thought you left on your pillow is actually following you” (Sara C. Mednick, Ph.D. (Harvard))

Whilst many traditional civilizations organize their day around a short period of rest between noon and 3 p.m., modern post-industrial civilization, with its obsessive demand for ever higher productivity, has largely dispensed with the siesta. The prejudice of post-industrial civilization is that napping is an indulgence, not a health issue, and certainly not a serious activity. Increasingly, sleep research is showing that this is a false and actually counterproductive opinion.

Circadian Technologies reports that a modest 10% in overtime in manufacturing operations actually results in a 2.4% decrease in productivity. White collar workers who work sixty hours or more per week become 25% less efficient. Sleep deprivation leads to carpel tunnel and other repetitive stress injuries. Cornell University concludes that tired workers cost industry $150 billion per year in reduced job productivity and fatigue related injuries.

The Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research finds that sleeping six hours or less is equivalent to a blood alcohol level of 0.05. Each hour of sleep deprivation is equivalent to yet another cocktail. The National Transportation Safety Board finds that 100,000 highway accidents, causing 71,000 injuries and 1,500 fatalities, are at least partly attributable to sleep deprivation.

The National Transportation Safety Board attributes the famous Exxon Veldez disaster in 1989, which cost $2.5 billion to clean up, to fatigue and excessive workload. Similar conclusions refer to the Union Carbide chemical explosion in India, the nuclear catastrophe at Chernobyl, and the astronomical rise in friendly fire casualties in Iraq.

Sleep deprivation is not only inefficient, it’s unhealthy. Sleep deprivation affects the areas of the brain responsible for decision making, attention span, and the speed at which we process new information. Many studies link even moderate chronic sleep deprivation – six hours or less per night – with cancer, obesity, heart disease, hypertension, stroke, immune system depression, premature aging, impotence, migraines, ulcers, eczema, and a host of psychological problems, including “road rage.” Sleep deprivation reduces the production of growth hormone and increases the quantity of cortisol, a catabolic hormone that breaks down carbohydrates and fats. The resulting imbalance turns cortisol into a corrosive killer.

All of these problems have one simple solution: a solid ninety minute nap between noon and 3 p.m., although a nap as short as twenty minutes can be as beneficial as seven hours of sleep. According to Harvard sleep expert Sara C. Mednick, Ph.D., the personal benefits of the napping habit include increased alertness, faster motor performance, improved accuracy, better decisions, improved perception, anti-aging, improved sex life, weight loss, reduced risk of heart attack and stroke, reduced risk of diabetes, improved stamina, elevated mood, creativity, reduced stress, improved memory, reduced dependence on drugs and alcohol, alleviated migraines, ulcers and psychological problems, and improved nocturnal sleep. Corporate benefits include reduced absenteeism, increased productivity, increased employee retention, and monetary savings. NASA has found that regular napping increases productivity in the workplace by 13%. The biographer of R. Buckminster Fuller opined that there is a relationship between napping and genius. The more brain work one’s job involves, the greater the benefit. In short, regular midday napping is the cure for what ails modern post-industrial civilization.

Famous Nappers

Anne-Marie McDermott, virtuoso musician

John F. Kennedy, American president

R. Buckminster Fuller, scientist-inventor

Winton Churchill, British prime minister

Nap-Positive Employers

Air New Zealand

Amtrak

British Airways

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad

Deloitte Consulting

NASA

Nike

Nova Chemicals

Town of Hillerod, Germany

TRC Lowney Associates

Yarde Metals

Reference:

Sara C. Mednick, Take a Nap! Change Your Life (New York: Workman, 2006).

Web Site:

http://www.saramednick.com