You'll probably think we've gone crazy if it's a weekday and you're right in the middle of the working process! Pity. At least Leo Widrich, founder of the Buffer company in San Francisco and promoter of this idea, is planning to have a nap right now. He and the Fast Company website, which published an article on this topic, believe that a well-planned rest can properly tune your day.
Why is it so good? Widrich himself discovered that around three o'clock in the afternoon he is very low on energy and a short rest is the only recipe to recapture his lost productivity. According to him, it is enough just to implement this ritual into your daily rhythm and you can easily forget about coffee or other coercive tools.
How many minutes are just right?
Sleeping as well as being awake takes place in certain predefined patterns and therefore we need to identify the correct sleeping rhythm in the broader context of our day.
10 to 20 minutes: all you need for quick refreshment and waking up without feeling languid
60 minutes: gets you into a slow sleeping wave which helps you remember facts, but you will wake up slightly groggy afterwards
90 minutes: gets you into deep sleep that enhances creativity
Remember that you have to schedule your afternoon nap between 1 and 4 p.m.; otherwise you disrupt your sleeping rhythm.
The idea is interesting, is not it? The only problem is that your colleagues/boss will think that you are sleeping at work and this is in fact the case. Perhaps in a company with a rigid structure you will not convince your boss or colleagues about the benefits of an afternoon nap, but it is still a question of productivity of work. Assure them that a short nap is ultimately more productive than an hour's staring into a computer monitor.
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