Power naps have long been considered as an ideal way to boost productivity. They help renew your energy at work and without inclusion by HR as one of the employee benefits, many of us do manage to stare at screen and sleep with eyes wide open, don’t we?

While corporate culture seems to frown at the idea of power napping, but the benefits on employee health and productivity post the nap-session, makes the power-napping concept a worth consideration by HR managers in workplaces of the future.

This is one wellness initiative that progressive thinking companies should implement to offer employees “snooze” benefits as a means to feel more energised at work.

August being the National Napping month, I guess it is undoubtedly the best time of the year to explain power napping benefits to HR managers on the value delivered, increased output and enhanced productivity and efficiency achieved by employees to perform at peak levels, post the power-napping session. Power napping anyone?

“You must sleep sometime between lunch and dinner… Don’t think you will be doing less work because you sleep during the day. That’s a foolish notion held by people who have no imaginations. You will be able to accomplish more. You get two days in one — well, at least one and a half, I’m sure.” – Winston Churchill

Here are reasons that enumerate why power napping is worth consideration by HR managers to be included as one of the rejuvenating benefits provided to employees during the day:

• Increases alertness: Brain activity continues to remain high in those who take power naps during the day. NASA sleep researchers have found that a nap of just 26 minutes can boost performance by 34 percent.
• Tend to be more innovative: National Geographic found that bursts of activity occur in the right hemisphere of nappers’ brains—the area that controls creativity. Hence, nappers prove to be quite innovative in comparison to their peers post the power-napping break at work.

See: Fixing the Workplace Culture for Our Own Good

• Elevates mood levels: Those who take power naps tend to be happier in their work spaces and focused on their job. This leads to higher employee engagement levels at work, considering mood of employees is particularly important when pressures are high.
• Alleviates sleep deficits: Power naps help alleviate so-called sleep deficits, and boosts brain power to include improvements such as creative problem solving, verbal memory, perceptual learning, object learning, and statistical learning. They help with math, logical reasoning, reaction times, and symbol recognition.

How do you know if power napping is right for you? If you find yourself drowsy at work or on a ride back home after work, or lack energy post lunches (your brain is calling for an afternoon siesta). This means you need power naps to rejuvenate your mind and bring back the energy to perform with renewed enthusiasm on job.

How to get the best power nap at work? Of course, the more common way of sleeping by staring at the computer screen with eyes wide open, doesn’t help you refresh your mind and body.

So just lay down your head and stop stressing on tasks you need to complete and deliver, get comfortable and rest in a position where your body is most comfortable to steal some time off work for a short nap.

There’s nothing wrong to implementing “snooze zones” as a part of your workplace culture. Many HR managers and corporates need to get off this mental barricade that power nap is a waste of time and impacts productivity.

Entrepreneur cites, “HubSpot has a nap room featuring a hammock suspended above a plush carpet and soothing cloud-covered walls to encourage its 750 employees to catch some z’s at work. The nap room can help employees balance the demands of work and home life.” A 10 to 20 minute nap will provide a quick boost of alertness while mitigating the onset of sleep inertia.

Bill Anthony, a psychology professor at Boston University and co-author of The Art of Napping at Work, thinks that the popularity of company nap rooms often goes hand-in-hand with economic conditions.

He says, “When the dot-com bubble deflated, I would say that the perk of napping at work retreated along with the economy. However, when people are getting more perks and more benefits and are being sought after and the economy is booming, then employers seem to think napping is okay,” Fortune reports.

Japanese companies encourage the culture of power napping at work, as it is considered an essential means of maintaining attention for longer periods at work with performance benefits. However, taking a nap shouldn’t become a way of justifying over time by employees, rather over time should be less necessary since employees will be performing at their peak during the regular working hours.

Power napping is one of the most effective ways to create better workplaces brimming with productive performers at no expense to the company; all you need is a change in attitude and perspective of looking at short naps in positive light.

Source: eremedia.com

Also read: 6 Ways to Build a Culture of Significance

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