Are naps okay in the workplace?
Should employees be allowed to take naps? Yes! Resoundingly. Of course, I’m an employee, not an employer, so my answer, after this back to school week, is for my benefit. There is, however, much research pointing to the benefits of napping during the work day.
What are the basic human needs? Food, water, sleep, and potty breaks. Of these, we would never dream of denying someone the right to lunch or the right to use the restroom. These are basic rights. In the classroom, we know that students battling hunger have poorer attention spans, lower test scores, and struggling grades. The homeless, lacking life necessities such as food, showers, and beds cannot not compete emotionally or mentally with those who have basic needs met. And sleep is a basic need.
Functioning at peak performance
In order to function at peak performance, which is of course that you want from your employees, adults need eight and one half to nine hours of sleep each day. This is not a weekly average; one cannot sleep fourteen hours on Saturday and call it even. Consistent sleep is needed.
To again use students as an example, let’s turn to standardized testing. Educators need those top rate scores from their students to meet requirements, to avoid improvement plans, and to stay in good graces of their districts. What do educators repeatedly do? To the best of their ability, they teach the material. But knowing that a child’s basic needs must be met in order to best perform, educators provide snacks, stretching breaks, and comfortable environments, and they reiterate to students and parents that students must get a good night’s sleep prior to testing day.
This make perfect sense, but sometime between elementary school and real life, we put success and the American dream above our basic needs and the basic needs of others. It is crucial to the success of your business to have the healthiest, most alert, and productive staff you can have, and integrating a power nap break into the work day could be your answer.
