Astronauts at NASA are allowed to nap at work. Obviously not while they’re operating the space shuttle. But apparently it’s encouraged for NASA astronauts to take 10-20 mins naps on a daily basis. According to their own study, which is a little bias if you ask me, this NREM sleep boosts their pilots’ performance by 34% and improve alertness by up to 54%.

Have you tried napping in the afternoon before? I certainly like it, but often shy away from it. Unless I have some sort of hard deadline e.g. a meeting that requires me to get up at a specific time. Otherwise I often find myself sleeping longer than 30mins. And when that happens I just seem more tired than before. Sleep Inertia kicks in and it makes me feel groggy.
But I’ve felt mega energised in the past when it has worked, so…

Personally I am all for a more wide adoption of allowing people to nap during work. The benefits outweigh the downsides. I think it carries an underserved stigma “oh you’re clearly not a hard worker, if you take a nap”, that I’d like to see banished.

In fact I’d go a step further and say we should incentivise healthy sleeping patterns at work. I know there are some companies that are already doing this… obviously with a little more budget than the 30 person agency - nonetheless, they are trying and it’s working for them.

Aetna (healthcare) has a program that rewards employees for meeting certain sleep goals with gift cards and other incentives.

Google has nap pods and other resources available to help employees get the rest they need.

Apple has a program that provides employees with extra vacation days if they meet certain sleep goals.

Zappos has flexible work schedules that allow employees to prioritise sleep.
Ben & Jerry's offers employees extra vacation days if they meet certain sleep goals.

Procter & Gamble has a program that rewards employees for getting a good night's sleep with gift cards and other incentives.

Deloitte encourages employees to prioritise sleep by providing access to nap rooms and other resources.

Fitbit (not surprised here) offers employees extra vacation days if they meet certain sleep goals.

Adobe provides its employees with access to sleep pods and other resources to help them get the rest they need.

Hubspot offers employees extra vacation days if they meet certain sleep goals.

Hootsuite has a program that rewards employees for getting a good night's sleep with gift cards and other incentives.

Basecamp encourages employees to prioritise sleep by providing access to nap rooms and other resources.

Dan, where does this suddenly come from? Well I just finished listening to the “Why We Sleep” book from D. Matt Walker. It’s a long read, but there are some good nuggets in there and it’s definitely changed some of my views on how much sleep I actually need to perform well each day…

Cheers!
Daniel