Homer Simpson’s Guide to Workplace Productivity: Take a Nap!September 1st, 2010 |
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When we hear the name Homer Simpson, the word “genius” rarely comes to mind. But when Homer gets hired to motivate the employees of the Globex company, and he discovers his workforce is exhausted from being overworked and not getting enough sleep, his solution is nothing short of brilliant.
“Sir, I need to know where I can get some business hammocks.”
The purity of Homer’s request strikes his boss Hank Scorpio so profoundly, that he has no other choice but to reply: “Hammocks? My goodness, what an idea. Why didn’t I think of that?”
Unfortunately, most would view this scene as just another tribute to Homer’s unbelievable laziness, instead of seeing it as a lesson for employers on how to increase the overall alertness and productivity of their workforce. According to multiple studies conducted by researchers, doctors, the military, NASA scientists and neuroscientists, the correct perspective is the latter. This article takes a look at naps, and why every company should encourage their employees to take them.
Profits: The Siesta Assassin
The Spanish word siesta comes from the Latin hora sexta, which means “the sixth hour.” Counting forward from sunrise the sixth hour represents midday, when the sun is highest and the belly is usually fullest from a huge lunch. The perfect time for a nap.
However, you don’t need to live in Spain, to feel the post-lunch drowsiness taking hold of your body and soul. When 1:30-2:30 pm rolls around, it feels like you’re fighting against the universe, and every inch of your system wants to shut down. It’s very difficult to focus while keeping your forehead from bouncing off the keyboard.
According to Max Hirshkowitz, director of the Sleep Center at Houston’s Michael E. DeBakery Veterans Affairs Medical Center and an associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine, “We’re biologically programmed to take a nap in midafternoon… It’s the Industrial Revolution that separated us from siesta, because it was too expensive to shut down big machines in the middle of the day and turn them back on.”
Sadly, even Spain’s napping days are numbered. In the last few years, the Spanish government has been trying to pull its workers out of their siesta-centric lifestyles. Most businesses close between 1:30 and 4:30 pm, with employees then working until 8pm. But this old tradition makes it very difficult for Spain to compete with the rest of Europe, as they are out of sync with everyone else’s business schedules.
In the race to the top I tend to agree that three-hour lunches are a bit excessive and would leave most companies in the dust. On the surface it only seems logical that more labor equals more profits. But what most industrialized nations don’t realize is that ignoring the body’s need for rest not only decreases productivity in the long run, but ends up costing them billions over time.
Counting Sheep to Save Lives
- According to the National Institute of Health, more than 50 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep disorders. Without treatment, these disorders can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes and depression.
- A study conducted at Cornell University discovered that tired employees represent an annual cost of $150 billion to the U.S. industry from reduced job productivity and fatigue-related accidents.
- In the report Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem, the Institute of Medicine estimates that “hundreds of billions of dollars a year are spent on direct medical costs related to sleep disorders, such as doctor visits, hospital services, prescriptions, and over-the-counter medications.”
- One fifth of all major car crash injuries are linked with impaired-driving due to lack of sleep. This number does not include alcohol-related accidents.
Suddenly business hammocks are starting to look more like medical prescriptions than typical Homer-style foolery.
Power Naps: If They’re Good Enough for Rocket Scientists…
NASA conducted a study on one thousand of its employees, including military pilots and astronauts, where half of them took a 30-minute power nap after lunch, and the rest would plough right through the day. They discovered that those who napped not only demonstrated enhanced performances with reduced errors, they also improved their cognitive abilities by 40%. They scored higher on IQ tests, and even their memorization skills drastically improved.
Unbreak My Heart with Some Shut Eye
Heart disease takes over 650,000 American lives each year, making it the number one killer in the nation. Dimitrios Trichopoulos from the Harvard School of Public Health stated that “taking a nap could turn out to be an important weapon in the fight against coronary mortality.” Dimitrios led the largest study to date on the midday nap and its effect on the human heart. It involved 23,681 people living in Greece who had no histories of heart conditions, strokes or cancer. The massive study unveiled the fact that people who took a 30-minute nap at least three times a week lowered their chances of heart-related deaths by 37%!
Meet Dr. Sleep
Dr. Sara C. Mednick, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego and author of the revolutionary book “Take a Nap! Change Your Life” has dedicated her life to teaching people how to do just that. Her research has proven that “without a midday rest, we are not able to perform at optimal levels throughout the day. In fact, our performance falls apart. Napping maintains and even boosts our skills.” Her book also demonstrates how a 20-30- minute nap, three times a week can make you look younger, increase your sex drive, and help you to lose weight.
How to Nap
Many of you are probably thinking at this point “zzzzz”. What I mean is, you could probably close your eyes right now and fall into a deep coma. You probably don’t need any tips on how to let your body do what it’s been craving to do since you left kindergarten, but there are ways to optimize your sleep to ensure full relaxation and revitalization.
- Try to find a space where you can turn off the lights. If this isn’t possible, get yourself eye covers or an eye mask. The simulated darkness will cause the body to produce the sleep chemical Melatonin.
- Get comfortable. Simply resting your head on your desk with your arms dangling below is not an ideal napping posture. The last thing you want is to wake up with the “Q” from your keyboard stuck to your head. Laying out flat on your back, with your hands comfortably at your sides or resting on your chest is ideal.
- Make sure your space is quiet. If there are too many ambient sounds, try using earplugs or earphones to listen to soothing music.
- Breathe. Many people, me included, have a hard time falling asleep due to an overactive brain. As soon as your eyes close, your brain starts trying to solve all the problems of the universe, from your personal taxes to peace in the Middle East. The trick to solving this is to focus on your breathing. Deeply inhale through your nose, and slowly exhale out your mouth. I like to imagine my breaths are like the waves of the ocean, inhaling out to sea, and exhaling onto the sandy beach. Concentrate on relaxing your body, one muscle at a time, starting from your face and working your way down to your toes. Trust me, you’ll most likely be unconscious by the time you reach your elbows.
- Set an alarm. You also don’t want to sleep for too long. 10-20 minutes is ideal for full body and mind revitalization. Any longer than that and you’ll suffer from what’s known as “sleep inertia.” This is the feeling of grogginess and disorientation associated from waking out of a deep sleep, and can last anywhere from a few minutes to half an hour.
NASA Powered Business Hammocks
The only problem with Homer’s idea for business hammocks was that he was thinking too small! Believe it or not there are spas out there dedicated to helping you get the afternoon power nap you deserve. In New York City for example there are companies like Yelo and MetroNaps, who offer a variety of comfortable sleeping pods fully equipped with customized aromatherapy, ambient sound and lighting. There is also a MetroNaps in Australia, who not only offers Energy Pods, Napshells and Zero Gravity napping chairs powered by NASA, they will come to your company to install their napping equipment, and offer seminars on how to integrate sleep into the workplace and fatigue management.
Most bosses would have scoffed at Homer for having such a silly idea, calling him lazy while questioning his management skills. Hank Scorpio, however, immediately saw the value in supplying his overworked employees with hammocks. A good afternoon power snooze not only improves cognitive function, increases production and boosts morale, it prolongs human life by reducing the risk of heart disease. And with that in mind, I’m off to sleep!
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