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Napping Strengthens Alertness, Performance

Taking a brief "power nap" during the afternoon slump can improve alertness and actually enhance productivity on the job, according to experts.

An established part of the daily routine in many cultures, napping during the workday is still tabu in the majority of workplaces. According to the National Sleep Foundation, less than one in five U.S. adults reports that napping is allowed at work. According to NASA, those workers most likely to nap include professional pilots and hospital workers, two professions in which lapses in alertness and performance can be life-threatening.

Harvard researchers have now confirmed what many mobile professionals have learned - a brief midday nap can enhance learning of tasks and improve productivity. It is known that the brain uses sleep to consolidate learned experiences into memory, and the Harvard team set out to prove that afternoon napping could also improve the processing of tasks learned during the day.

The doctors studied volunteers who were asked to perform exhausting tests for one day. One-third of the participants were allowed to nap for 30 minutes, another third for 60 minutes, and the remainder did not nap during the course of the testing.

All the subjects had the highest performance level during the first session of the morning. While performance on the test declined throughout the day for those volunteers who did not nap during the testing, those who napped for 30 minutes did not demonstrate this decrease in productivity. Interestingly, those who slept for 60 minutes actually improved their performance on the latter part of the test as compared with their late-morning results.

In a different study, Japanese researchers also showed that post-lunch naps promoted alertness on the job and were well-accepted by workers.

The effects of sleep on memory are thought to be due to both the slow-wave sleep during the first quarter of the night as well as the rapid eye movement (REM) sleep that occurs later. Since a brief nap does not allow the stage of REM sleep to occur, the early, slow-wave sleep is likely the cause of the enhanced productivity following a nap.

Napping is slowly gaining acceptance in the popular culture and may someday become as accepted as the coffee break for a rejuvenating pause at work. At Metro Naps in New York City, stressed-out workers can pay $14 for an interlude in a "napping pod," complete with white noise and a wake-up system.

How to Begin Power Napping

Experienced nappers and experts offer the following tips for those who'd like to try power napping:

• Limit your nap to 20-30 minutes at most. Most experts agree that 20 minutes is an ideal upper limit for nap time. Longer naps can make you groggy and tired.
• Always use an alarm or timer to limit your nap. The most common objection to napping cited by workers is the fear of over-sleeping.
• If you have a private office, simply closing the door and turning off the phone can provide a quiet venue for your nap. Those confined to cubicles must be a bit more creative and seek out lounges, park benches, or other quiet spots. Some confirmed nappers even report napping in their car during lunch break.
• You should aim for a nap during the post-lunch midday slump, preferably after you have been awake for more than eight hours, in order not to disrupt your sleep-wake cycle.
• If you can't fall asleep, don't worry. While you may not experience the full benefits of slow-wave sleep, just relaxing with closed eyes will also be beneficial.

References

Mednick S, Nakayama K, Stickgold R. Sleep-dependent learning: a nap is as good as a night.Nat Neurosci. 2002 Jul;5(7):677-81.

Takahashi M, Nakata A, Haratani T, Ogawa Y, Arito H. Post-lunch nap as a worksite intervention to promote alertness on the job.Ergonomics. 2004 Jul 15;47(9):1003-13.