Some Respect, Please, for the Afternoon Nap

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Some Respect, Please, for the Afternoon Nap

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/25/business/yourmoney/25wcol.html?

ref=health

By LISA BELKIN

Published: February 25, 2007

KINDERGARTNERS fight against naptime because they want to be just

like the grown-ups. But those grown-ups would give anything for a

chance to close their eyes during the endless time between lunch and

dinner.

You know the feeling — your screen starts to blur, your eyelids

become heavy, your mouth feels cottony, and you would give back all

the perks of adulthood to be able to curl up on the floor.

Now, out of Greece, comes permission to do exactly that. A study of

more than 23,000 adults shows that those who napped for about 30

minutes each week had a 37 percent lower risk of dying from a heart

attack than those who did not.

So this should mean that all working Americans will receive

permission from their bosses to close their eyes every afternoon at

about 4 p.m., right?

Don't bet your blankie on it.

This is hardly the first study showing that sleep is more than

simply time when we really should be at work. Other studies, though

few as extensive as the Greek research, show that short periods of

sleep during the day increase productivity and creativity while

reducing stress. And even without surveys, we know this from

experience.

When you need a nap, you need a nap. Nothing — not caffeine, not a

chocolate bar, not a pill — recharges the battery in the same way.

Which is why so many of us have been sneaking naps at work for

years. Mark Lipschutz, a computer specialist in Philadelphia, for

one, acknowledges disappearing out to the company parking lot when

the need hits. There he reclines the front seat of his car, sets the

alarm on his mobile phone, puts on the eyeshade he carries for just

this purpose and sacks out. Eight or 10 minutes are often enough.

More than 20 and he wakes up groggy.

Jen Singer has been known to tell clients that she can't make a 1

p.m. conference call because " I have a meeting. " What she does not

tell them, she confesses, is that " it's a meeting with my pillow. "

She edits a Web site called MommaSaid.net from home, which makes it

easier to nap without being seen.

(As one who also works from home, I understand this strategy; I have

been known to tell my children that I am on a " conference call " for

an hour and cannot be disturbed. Heaven forbid they find out that

Mom is asleep in the mid-afternoon.)

The most interesting thing that Mr. Lipschutz and Mr. Singer have to

tell us is not that they nap, but that they feel the need to sneak

those naps. They don't simply announce " I am off to take a nap, " in

the same matter-of-fact tone as " I'm off to lunch " or " I'm done for

the day " (or " I'm on a conference call " ).

This is not the case in other parts of the world. The legacy of the

siesta lingers in Spanish culture, and in some countries of the Far

East, workers all put their heads on their desks in the middle of

the day and snooze as one.

Nor has it always been an embarrassment to nap in the West.

Edison was famous for his ability to catnap anywhere. Winston

Churchill napped once a day, without apology, during World War II.

" You must sleep sometime between lunch and dinner, " Churchill said,

explaining that this includes taking off one's clothes and climbing

into bed. " Don't think you will be doing less work because you sleep

during the day. That's a foolish notion held by people who have no

imaginations. You will be able to accomplish more. You get two days

in one. "

But over the last several decades, as workdays lengthened, as

executives began to brag that they functioned best on a mere four

hours' sleep a night, as Americans started bringing their laptops

along on vacation — when they took those vacations at all — sleep

has come to be seen as a luxury at best, and as a weakness at worst.

The only way the Greek napping study will make a substantive

difference in the average workday is if it somehow helps to redefine

sleep as something macho and competitive. A few companies out there

have added rooms outfitted with couches, recliners, comforters and

pillows to their menu of life/work perks. Some businesses describe

these rooms not in terms of health and well-being, but as a way to

gain a competitive edge.

At the office of the law firm Kilpatrick Stockton in Raleigh, N.C.,

for instance, the room in question is called the Power Room. As in

power nap. As in " taking away the stigma of napping and replacing it

with strength and energy, " says Carol Vassey, the firm's office

manager.

Sleep as strategy. As secret weapon. As business plan. Call it what

you must. And then get some rest.