By Jon Forknell
Productivity is a big buzzword in the world of business these days—and for good reason. Without a productive workforce, it’s impossible to achieve your business goals.
I talk quite a bit about productivity here and that’s because it’s useful to understand why certain elements in our day lead to better results. Now, as the holiday season approaches and Americans start to wind down for the season of gratitude and gift-giving, it’s important to look at this natural decline in productivity—or what is perceived as a natural decline. Specifically, sleep.
There’s a ton of science behind sleep and most of it signals that more sleep can mean more productivity and better overall health. Let’s dig in.
We’re designed for afternoon naps
Napping isn’t just something that sounds good to the overtired minds of millions of Americans. Scientists have proven that our bodies crave a mid-day rest.
In the morning, as body temperature starts to rise, your memory and concentration gradually improve, which is why you’re increasingly more productive during the early hours of the day. By noon, usually after a meal, that alertness starts to decrease. Sleepiness starts to creep back in, making 2 p.m. a good time to give your body a short rest, according to Martin Moore-Ede, chairman and chief executive of training and consulting firm Circadian.
By design, our lungs, brain, and organs have their own natural rhythms. Your body’s clock wants you to close your eyes and lay your head down in the afternoon. Science proves it but does that mean you should give in to the drowsiness you experience every day? Probably.
Brain benefits of quick snooze
Power naps (no longer than 20 minutes) can do wonders for your overall brain power. With a refreshed mindset you’ll be more creative, improve your memory, and make you healthier overall.
Improved sleep has been proven to be beneficial for your heart, your hormonal maintenance, and your overall cell repair. When you don’t get enough sleep your body doesn’t have the opportunity to repair itself and absorb everything that happened throughout the day. Over time, this can lead to sleep deprivation, which can make it difficult for your brain to refocus. Being sleep deprived at work can drain your productivity and cost you valuable time and money.
Catch your needed Zzz’s
Are you sold on the importance of getting enough rest and taking a quick nap? Although closing your eyes every afternoon might sound ideal, it’s not always doable. That’s because people don’t prioritize sleep during the day over work—at least not in the United States.
In Spain, mid-day siestas are commonplace. In China, millions of workers take a nap at their desk after lunch. Still, few North American businesses find it culturally acceptable to decline a meeting or delay a project because you need to take a snooze.
Still, it’s important that you give your body the two sleeps per day it craves if you want to maintain your productivity and overall health. Should you incorporate nap time into your business? If you believe the science behind it, then yes. And it might not be as difficult as it sounds to let you and your team catch your much needed zzz’s.
By scheduling nap time, you can ensure everyone closes their eyes and gets a little extra rest. Putting nap times on the schedule serves two purposes:
- It gives your employees permission to sleep on the job;
- It lets others know when someone is asleep and should not be disturbed.
By publicizing nap times, you can ensure everyone gets the rest they need, so you can maintain a more productive workforce—and you yourself can feel better and healthier overall.
Give in to the turkey coma this Thanksgiving
Napping isn’t something that needs to end in preschool. Take that turkey coma you’re bound to encounter this Thanksgiving and extend it into the coming New Year.
After a few weeks of incorporating naps into your daily routine, take a look at what it has done to your overall health. Do you feel more mentally alert? Are you better able to remember things that happened throughout the day? Do you feel physically healthier? If science has shown us anything, it’s that the answer to those questions should be yes.
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Jon Forknell is the Vice President and General Manager of Atlas Business Solutions, Inc., a software marketing company specializing in employee scheduling software, including ScheduleBase, and other business software solutions. In the past, Jon has been recognized by the Small Business Administration as an SBA Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Atlas Business Solutions was named as one of Software Magazine‘s Top 500 Software Companies 2004-2007 and again in 2010, 2013, 2014, and 2016.