Naps boost brain power, creativity, learning, memory, focus and physical stamina, studies show.
More than 85% of mammals nap around the clock, catching their Z’s in several short intervals, rather than in one solid chunk at night. They’re called “polyphasic” sleepers.
Humans are among the small minority of “monophasic” sleepers, meaning our days are divided into two distinct periods, one for sleep and one for wakefulness.
“It is not clear that this is the natural sleep pattern of humans,” says the National Sleep Foundation.
Napping is commonplace among young children and the elderly, and among middle-aged adults in many Eastern cultures, the foundation points out.
But in the West, we’ve convinced ourselves napping is lazy and unproductive.
If productivity is our goal, dozens of recent studies suggest we may be cheating ourselves.
A 2018 study found school children who nap 5 to 7 days a week sustain more focused attention, better nonverbal reasoning ability and spatial memory.
A 2014 study showed a 30-minute nap prevented the normal afternoon decline in energy and attention, and a 60-minute nap actually reversed the mental deterioration caused by the day.
A 2003 study found participants performed just as well after a 60- to 90-minute nap as they did after a full night of sleep.
“What’s amazing is that in a 90-minute nap, you can get the same benefits as an eight-hour sleep period,” said study author and psychologist Sara Mednick.” And actually, the nap is having an additive benefit on top of a good night of sleep.”
Napping helped improve memory test scores even more than caffeine, Mednick found in a follow-up study in 2008.
A NASA study on sleepy military pilots and astronauts found that a 40-minute nap improved performance by 34% and alertness by 100%.
Napping is also associated with reduced blood pressure and improved cardiovascular health.
Despite all the proven benefits of napping, it’s still taboo for the Western working man and woman.
“Daytime napping is quite controversial in the United States,” said Xiaopeng Ji, lead author of the 2018 study and director of a sleep research program at the University of Delaware.
“In Western culture, the monophasic sleep pattern is considered a marker of brain maturation. In China, time for napping is built into the post-lunch schedule for many adults in work settings and students at schools.”
In Japan, the practice of inemuri — or ‘sleeping while on duty’ — is encouraged in the office, on the train, and even in class. There, napping is associated with a successful career.
The concept is just starting to catch on in the western world, with NASA, Google, Samsung, Ben & Jerry’s, Zappos and Uber installing sleeping pods in the workplace. The pods shut out the noise and light of the world and play soothing music, before gently waking employees with natural light. The hope is a little midday rest and relaxation will boost employee productivity and creativity.
So there you have it, go take a nap!
Comments
One response to “Study: Naps Dramatically Improve Learning, Memory and Focus”
I’m for it. … Before retirement from hi-tech I used to snack while working then take a power-nap during lunch hour. Worked wonders on alertness and productivity.
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