Napping, especially on the job, may have benefits but remains controversial

The issue of napping on the job is almost always controversial. Some sleep experts extoll the benefits of a nap, while others say it interferes with getting quality primary sleep. Of course the (understandable) management aversion to paying people who are sleeping is a significant hurdle to overcome. And the cultural taboos around napping -- nappers are lazy, etc. -- are often an issue too.

I am not a sleep expert but I'll tell you I use naps as a fatigue countermeasure and I think it helps. I'm VERY conscious of not napping too long out of concern for not being able to sleep in bed later. But, all things considered, I use napping, and recommend them to others, on or off the job. And, when I was Managing Director at Circadian Information, I can tell you that we had a napping room in our offices which I made use of from time to time.

One of the many shiftwork consultants out there, Shiftwork Solutions, posted a note to their blog today also citing the benefits of napping, and particularly napping on the job. They calculate that a 15 minute nap only needs to improve productivity by 4.5% to be worthwhile. Ultimately, I think most managers are going to permit napping on the job based on a gut instinct, but I think having some numerical back up may help some. Check out the blog post, "I need a nap!" -- It's time to sleep on shift.