Image from PhotoDuneI often lack energy after lunch. I notice it a lot more now that I work from home, compared to when I was surrounded by people in an office.
I once decided not to fight the tiredness, and took a nap. It helped, though I thought I should be conquering my tiredness rather than just giving up. Until I learned that Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison, John D. Rockerfeller and Winston Churchill all energized their creativity and productivity with a daily nap. I had no idea!
Since then I’ve been having a half hour nap after lunch almost every day. I’ve been mastering the art, and feel like I’ve discovered a well-kept secret. And it absolutely helps. It’s one of the perks I get because I work from home. It would be much more difficult if I worked in an office, though many office workers find a way to nap too.
If you’d like to learn more, here is a brief two-minute video about napping, along with a short selection of helpful articles. Let me know what you think.
The Scientific Power of Naps
The Surprising Science Behind Napping
This excellent article lists a wide range or reasons that napping is useful, and cites some studies that have been done on napping. The conclusion is that “sleeping on the job is a good thing,” and are more effective than caffeine.Napping boosts energy, improves health, makes you more creative, and boosts performance – valuable benefits for anyone in the Envato community.
The article also contains a helpful section on the best way to nap. Hints include to keep them less than 20 minutes, to actually lie down, to set an alarm so you don’t oversleep, and to stop feeling guilty!
5 Reasons Why You Should Take a Nap Every Day
This is the article where I discovered all the famous people who were more productive because of napping. The author, Michael Hyatt, also finds napping helpful, and takes a nap every day. He even made time to do this when he was a busy CEO.Michael lists some of the benefits of napping, including restoring alertness, preventing burnout, heightening sensory perception, reducing the risk of heart disease, and increased productivity. It almost sounds like a magic potion, except he lists studies from reputable organizations who made these incredible discoveries.
Michael lists some hints for getting the most out of your nap: be consistent, keep it short, turn out the lights, use a blanket, and be discreet. He also encourages you to shift your thinking about naps:
People who take them are not lazy. They might just be the smartest, most productive people you know.
Read the full article on Michael Hyatt’s blog. You might also want to check out his podcast on the subject.
5 Reasons Why Every Office Needs Nap Time
In this article, the author compares napping to the more common strategy of workers stimulating themselves with coffee:They drink a cup first thing in the morning and maybe have another later in the day to stave off the notorious 2 P.M. crash. But new studies, along with forward-minded approaches to worker productivity by companies, are claiming that scheduled naps – not coffee – are the key to a more alert, productive worker.
They then go on to cite studies that extol the virtues of napping. We’ve heard some of them before: creativity, productivity, and better memory. They explain how napping helps with sleep debt, and should be considered an “alluring perk”. I do!
Do you nap? Let me know in the comments. Or are you giving napping a first try? Welcome to the club. I’d love to hear about your experiences.
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