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AN AFTERNOON NAP, OR ANOTHER CUP OF COFFEE?
Remember the good old days when afternoons included milk, cookies and curling up for a late day snooze? A few cultures and companies promote and provide guilt-free afternoon napping opportunities, but for most in the work world, caffeine shots or fatigue surfing are still the strategies of choice for getting through the end of the workday. Now, there’s more evidence that napping may be a smart way to improve work productivity and quality, not just a luxurious pastime or fading cultural practice.
A 2008 University of California-San Diego study published in Behavioral Brain Research found nappers significantly out-performed those who took caffeine pills or a placebo on perception, verbal and motor tasks including memorization, sequential keyboard tapping and distinguishing between shapes. All study subjects first performed these tasks before 1:00PM and were then divided into three groups, the first taking their naps from 1:00-3:00PM, and the other two either downing the caffeine or placebo at 3:00. In particular, those who napped really bested the others on verbal activities, although the caffeine group said they felt less sleepy than the sleepers and placebo takers.
So the evidence-based lesson here is that siestas aren’t just for Spaniards and school kids, they could boost business for salespeople and CEOs, too. And since solo practitioners and office workers alike are spending more and more time toiling, maybe a break for sleep should become a standard and accepted way of sharpening our cognitive tools.
Could you hand me my blanket?
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