They snooze in parking garages, on side streets before the afternoon school run, in nap pods rented by the hour or stretched out in bed while working from home.
People who make a habit of sleeping on the job comprise a secret society of sorts within the U.S. labor force. Inspired by famous power nappers Winston Churchill and Albert Einstein, today's committed nap-takers often sneak in short rest breaks because they think the practice will improve their cognitive performance but still carries a stigma.
Multiple studies have extolled the benefits of napping, such as enhanced memory and focus. A mid-afternoon siesta is the norm in parts of Spain and Italy. In China and Japan, nodding off is encouraged since working to the point of exhaustion is seen as a display of dedication, according to a study in the journal Sleep.
Yet it's hard to catch a few z's during regular business hours in the United States, where people who nap can be viewed as lazy. The federal government even bans sleeping in its buildings while at work, except in rare circumstances.
Individuals who are willing and able to challenge the status quo are becoming less hesitant to describe the payoffs of taking a dose of microsleep. Marvin Stockwell, the founder of PR firm Champion the Cause, takes short naps several times a week.
“They rejuvenate me in a way that I’m exponentially more useful and constructive and creative on the other side of a nap than I am when I’m forcing myself to gut through being tired,” Stockwell said.
Sleep is as important to good health as diet and exercise, but too many people don’t get enough of it, according to James Rowley, program director of the Sleep Medicine Fellowship at Rush University Medical Center.
“A lot of it has to do with electronics. It used to be TVs, but now cell phones are probably the biggest culprit. People just take them to bed with them and watch,” Rowley said.”
Napping isn’t common in academia, where there’s constant pressure to publish, but University of Southern California lecturer Julianna Kirschner fits in daytime naps when she can. Kirschner studies social media, which she says is designed to deliver a dopamine rush to the brain. Viewers lose track of time on the platforms, interrupting sleep. Kirschner says she isn’t immune to this problem — hence, her occasional need to nap.
The key to effective napping is to keep the snooze sessions short, Rowley said. Short naps can be restorative and are more likely to leave you more alert, he said.
“Most people don’t realize naps should be in the 15- to 20-minute range,” Rowley said. “Anything longer, and you can have problems with sleep inertia, difficulty waking up, and you’re groggy.”
Individuals who find themselves consistently relying on naps to make up for inadequate sleep should probably also examine their bedtime habits, he said.
Mid-afternoon is the ideal time for a nap because it coincides with a natural circadian dip, while napping after 6 p.m. may interfere with nocturnal sleep for those who work during daylight hours, said Michael Chee, director of the Centre for Sleep and Cognition at the National University of Singapore.
“Any duration of nap, you will feel recharged. It’s a relief valve. There are clear cognitive benefits,” Chee said.
A review of napping studies suggests that 30 minutes is the optimal nap length in terms of practicality and benefits, said Ruth Leong, a research fellow at the Singapore center.
“When people nap for too long, it may not be a sustainable practice, and also, really long naps that cross the two-hour mark affect nighttime sleep,” Leong said.
Experts recommend setting an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes, which gives nappers a few minutes to fall asleep.
But even a six-minute nap can be restorative and improve learning, said Valentin Dragoi, scientific director of the Center for Neural Systems Restoration, a research and treatment facility run by Houston Methodist hospital and Rice University.
While workplace dozing is uncommon in the U.S., some companies and managers encourage it. Will Bryk, founder of AI search startup Exa, swears by 20-minute power naps and ordered two sleeping pods for employees to use in his company's San Francisco office.
Ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s has had a nap room in its Vermont headquarters for a couple of decades, and a handful of employees use it, company spokesman Sean Greenwood said. “Employees who feel taken care of are much more likely to use this responsibly," he said.
Arianna Huffington, the celebrity author who co-founded the news website Huffington Post, became an advocate of a good night’s sleep and occasional naps after she collapsed from exhaustion in 2007. She installed a nap room at her former company, now called HuffPo, and at Thrive Global, a wellness technology company where she serves as founder and CEO.
“If people have been up all night because of a sick child or a delayed flight, if they have the opportunity to nap, ... then they will be much more productive and creative for the rest of the day instead of dragging themselves or trying to boost their energy through multiple coffees or cinnamon buns,” Huffington said in an email.
Kirsten Perez, 33, is a devoted napper. She used to use her lunch break at work to catch a few winks in her car. When she got her own office, she closed the door for a siesta while sitting at her desk.
Nowadays, working from home as a marketing manager at Nvidia, the Atlanta resident usually takes her daily nap in bed. She sets an alarm for 15 minutes, falls asleep within a minute and wakes up 30 seconds before the alarm rings.
“I can tell when my reasoning, my mood are dropping, just kind of feeling the drag of the day,” Perez said. In those situations, she asks herself, “‘Do I have a chunk of time in the next hour or so?’ And then I’ll figure out when I can find 15 minutes and find myself horizontal.”
Naps are accepted and even a necessity in some occupations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourages naps for nurses working night shifts. But many nurses can't sleep at the hospitals where they work because they're too busy and aren't given access to beds.
Nurses "regularly struggle to have sufficient time to use the bathroom or go outside for fresh air, no less take a nap," Michelle Morris, spokesperson for the National Nurses United union, said.
Some companies are trying to fill the void. Inspired by his mother who worked as a nurse, Neil Wong founded Nap York, which offers sleeping pods in Manhattan and Queens that can be rented for about $27 an hour.
His regular customers include super-commuters, UPS drivers, a security guard who works two full-time jobs, and doctors who work at nearby hospitals. Nap York also gives half-off prices to essential workers such as police officers, firefighters and emergency medical service personnel.
“In this society, you really only have two place to sleep: you have your bed at home and you have a hotel room you can probably get for 100 bucks,” Wong said. “There’s really no third space that’s quiet, that provides some privacy, where you can also rest.”
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22 Comments
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Jay
Why glorify a habit of oversized toddlers who never outgrew nap time in kindergarten?
People need to realize that if you sleep like a healthy, functional adult - a full 7.5-9 hours a night - instead of doom-scrolling until 3 AM - you wouldn't need to pass out at your desk like an overtired infant.
No, an afternoon siesta is not some kind of revolutionary life hack, it's a CLEAR you need to get your health and your life together.
virusrex
Mostly because it is healthy and bring benefits, and that your personal opinion about it has absolutely no relevance on what others believe about it.
Lots of things you may be doing could be described negatively by many people, would that make you stop? If not, that is your answer.
The article describes the many benefits that people can get from a short nap, nothing you believe about it would make those benefit less real, so it is completely understandable that people would choose to do what is best for them even if other people have irrational beliefs about it.
And no, the naps are not recommended instead of a good night sleep, but as a stand alone measure. The article makes that very clear, recommending healthy sleeping habits at night AND a short nap during the day.
iknowall
Good point.
No, according to medical professionals.
So if you had an M.D. for example you would know of the below risks, but you do not so it is just your personal opinion:
(i) Excessive Daytime Napping Increases the Risk of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.
(ii) Increase in hypertension, and stroke.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11283788/
https://www.sciencealert.com/frequent-napping-could-come-with-a-concerning-health-risk
wallace
I can have one or two-hour naps daily in addition to my 8-hour sleep.
iknowall
Higher risk of developing Alzheimer's too.
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/03/vicious-cycle-found-between-excessive-napping-and-alzheimers/
virusrex
No so good seeing how it was easily refuted.
Yes according to medical professionals whose opinions are included in the article.
You on the other hand bring no professional opinions contradicting the article, instead you bring irrelevant ones that talk about something very different.
The article do NOT talk about excessive napping, therefore your reference do not apply at all, this article even makes the point of saying there is a healthy degree of sleep that can be done in this way and that doing it for too long periods is not recommended, therefore contradicting the false claim you made.
How do you know what degrees other commenters have here? are you trying to claim you know what other people commending here do or who they are? can you even provide any evidence of this claim you make?
Or is it just again making baseless claims about what other people do for a living as you tend to do when you find out you have no argument?
GBR48
Most of us could not get off to sleep anything like quickly enough for naps to be an option. And that may be a good thing. If you can fall asleep that quickly, you may need to take a lot more care driving and when travelling on public transport.
Hawk
If you're falling asleep at your desk, you're not working hard enough, or not sleeping properly at night. Don't blame circadian rhythms when really it was those pints and tiktoks the night before.
virusrex
But even if people are not falling asleep at their desks they can get many benefits from a nap. You are confusing between two very different situations as if they were the same when they are not.
Jay
Completely false according to every single sleep expert/institution in the entire world. You can try to frame naps as some undeniable life hack if you like, but in reality, functioning adults who get proper sleep at night don't need to pass out like overgrown toddlers halfway through the day. If naps are so revolutionary, why is the most successful demographic in the world those who actually stay awake, get things done and properly recuperate at night?
Hawk
When you are energised and alert because you slept well the previous night, the last thing on your mind is a nap. What a waste of your - and your boss's - time. That circadian dip is more than offset by regular and adequate sleep. You should also be aware of the healthy benefits of a good diet, and exercise. Nappers are likely lacking in one of those areas.
And if you do have an energy lull in the day - life happens and we can't always get an appropriate amount of sleep - get up. Elevate your heart rate and enjoy some adrenaline and endorphins. That'll get you going. Sorry, but save your naps for your own time.
virusrex
Can you bring even one reference for this? or is it that you are just making up a claim without any support expecting people just to believe this false appeal to authority.
For example it is trivially easy to refute this false claim with a recommendation from a well known institution
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/should-i-take-afternoon-naps
So, enjoy your nap. Even if you return to work, maintaining an afternoon nap as part of your daily routine can be beneficial.
No life hack, simply a well described custom that improves many things and that people benefit a lot from even if they don't "need" it as the article clearly describes. Once again, the experts in the article clearly know much more than nameless people on the internet about the topic, so their recommendations are much more trustworthy and reliable.
Again, exactly nothing in the article says that people should replace sleep at night with naps, that is only your own misunderstanding that could have been prevented by reading the article, and unless you can present data that proves productivity do not improve with the short sleep recommended here you have no argument, for all you know the "most successful demographic" do so because of short naps.
virusrex
Yet people can benefit from having one as the article describes. You are still confused between needing a nap and benefiting from it. People may not feel they need periods of excercise between time spend sitting, but that does nothing to refute the fact that doing that excercise is better for their health and productivity.
Increasing importantly productivity in the afternoon is a waste? for this argument to hold any weight you would need to demonstrate that the increase in productivity do not outweight the 20 minutes "lost" sleeping. The same argument could be said by the time "lost" eating lunch, when people could simply push and work with an empty stomach.
Which expert supports this claim over a short nap? obviously you are not trying to say this based on your own authority, right?
iknowall
A well-known institution warns:
The limit is 60 minutes, because longer naps have been linked to a higher risk of health problems like cardiovascular disease.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/should-i-take-afternoon-naps
Hawk
They can get those same benefits from taking a quick walk around the block, skulling back a cold glass of water or doing 10 push-ups in a corner. Much quicker.
I love it when I need an email or a report etc from a colleague in a timely fashion, only to be told that I have to wait for thirty minutes because they are taking a nap. It's really good for my and the rest of the office's productivity.
Any of them do, particularly, when the choice is between that or sleeping on the job.
https://www.healthline.com/health/daytime-sleepiness/tips-for-work#1-A-shot-of-caffeine
There are a few here. It does list taking a nap, but with the important caveat: "...on your lunch break."
virusrex
Congratulations, you just demonstrated why your previous criticism of "excessive sleeping" is not appropriate for the topic in the article that never recommends 60 minutes or more, instead it explicitly says much shorter naps are recommended.
This is the same as every other medical recommendation, excercise is good, but excessive excercise can be harmful, caloric restriction can be healthy, but excessive caloric restriction can cause health problems.
And you never answered the question:
How do you know what accreditations other people commenting here have? Or are you accepting this is just a baseless claim you made when you could find no argument to support your claims?
virusrex
Citation needed. Again, appeals to authority are not something that have any value from nameless people on the internet.
Or they are taking their lunch, according to you it is then also recommended for people to don't eat anything until they are back to their house, right? Else this would also invalidate the argument.
So again, how about concrete numbers of gained and lost productivity, either evidence or a reference where an experts supports this claim.
The reference from Harvard is still there, and they do not recommend replacing a short nap with excercise, this alone would disprove your claim.
I mean, your own source says it is recommended to take a power nap, and it does not mention it is better to replace it with anything.
Specially important this is about how to deal with feeling sleepy at work, that a nap increases productivity in no way depends on this.
But according to you this is not justified, people would not send an email or report in a timely fashion if they are losing time taking a break for lunch.
iknowall
No, napping is shown in the sources by the medical experts, such as MDs and PhDs, to have many health risks, so you are just providing a non-medical opinion.
Hawk
Provided.
Well I probably wouldn't ask during the accepted lunch time. Nap time? This is a professional work environment, not a nursery school. Furthermore, you can much more easily reply to an email, answer your phone or go to someone's office if you are in the middle of eating a sandwich than when you are fast asleep.
Same for naps, please.
Nor do they dismiss it. And anyway, the article about post-retirement napping. Nice try but that's not what we are talking about here.
It does. In your own time, not anybody else's. It also provides a list of alternatives. Further sources linked at the bottom if you missed them.
Hawk
"Remember to give yourself 10 minutes after napping before engaging in mentally or physically demanding tasks."
So a thirty minute nap, and then a short break to recover from your nap. Sorry, but your source is hilarious.
iknowall
But then we have conflicting expert advice. Seems like 1 hour nap is not excessive according to the experts.
*That said, though, other experts recommend sticking with either 20 minutes or 90 minutes.*
https://www.sleep.com/sleep-health/naps-performance
virusrex
No, that is a misrepresentation only you are making, the actual dangers come from excessive sleeping, something this article is not recommending.
Nothing in the reference says the same benefit can be obtained, it gives options without quantifying the benefit. Are you accepting you have no reference to prove the claim you made?
Which makes it obvious you accept a reduced productivity but only if you want to use that time for personal reasons, this means your argument is purely subjective and not something that can be imposed to others. If someone said the opposite (feel fine not infringing on nap time but considering lunch time a waste) it would have the same argument you had.
This article contain the professional opinion of experts that explicitly says this is an advantage for productivity, you refused to bring any reference where your claim could be supported, if you accept you don't have data either that means this article is much more reliable and trustworthy than your personal and subjective beliefs about it.
For your claim you needed the experts to base their recommendations exclusively on replacing night sleep, as long as they are not doing it then your claim is baseless, not dismissing it has no relevance on the lack of basis of what you claimed.
And since it does not recommend anything over it, your original claim remains without any support.
Same as a lunch break, but since you personally justify giving time to that activity and not this one you think this is an argument, it is not, it is just you expressing what you personally prefer, not what is acceptable or not.
15 to 20 as recommended is enough, and still much less than the full hour for lunch that is normal, that is much more hilarious.
There is no conflict on 15-20 minutes not being excessive, therefore your claim that the naps recommended in this article bring risks to the health is still baseless and contradicted by the experts.