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October 30, 2005

Worthwhile: Nap your way to

The Idler points to a study in the UK that concludes that sleep is the key to efficiency (and fresh ideas) at work.

Researchers from the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) have concluded that sleep is the key to efficiency at work. Snoozing can maximise our potential in the workplace and help increase productivity.

Having a nap during the day can enable us to come up with fresh thoughts and new ideas. More than 30% questioned in an EEDA survey said that their best ideas came when they were about to fall asleep.

“In our dreams, we produce unusual combinations of ideas that can seem surreal, but every once in a while result in an amazingly creative solution to an important problem,' explained psychology professor Richard Wiseman. He went on to say that the survey showed that “people's brains need to be primed for a new way of thinking'.

So what do you think? Time to install the very latest in fold-down cubicle beds?
Comments
Thu, Aug 11, 2005, @ 14:39
1- Max Leibman

Couldn’t hurt.

Seriously, though, I was just reading about how several “great thinkers” of the past centuries, like Edison and Einstein, would keep notebooks by their beds so they could jot down creative bursts that came as they drifted into or out of sleep, so there’s probably something to the “new way of thinking” part.

Me, I’m just not productive OR creative when I get tired. Skipping two hours’ sleep to get things done drops my effectiveness so dramatically I don’t seem to gain the time at all.

Thu, Aug 11, 2005, @ 17:05
2- Jennifer Warwick

And if you can’t fall asleep, that’s OK too…from the July 2005 issue of Discover magazine:

“Clinical tests show people solve problems faster when lying down. Sitting or standing triggers norepinephrine, a stress hormone that reduces the ability to reason and pay attention to detail.”

This is why there is a hammock right outside my office.

Fri, Aug 12, 2005, @ 8:52
3- Steve Sherlock

Oh, wouldn’t that be wonderful? In addition to having space condusive to fostering interaction and conversation aongst co-workers, to also have a quiet space (hammock sounds really good) for “power naps”. It will likely be found in some start up West Coast company before we find it here in the eastern corporate world. But there is hope.

I do find good ideas come from that time just before sleep. Seems like your mind prepares to clean up stray thoughts before the body gets comfy. Akin to the ideas that come during showers, or sitting time in the lavetory. The mind cleaning process attempts to fits the thoughts together to store them somewhere and hence we get “new” ideas.

Of course, they are not really “new” but just recognized then. What we need to do is to be able to simulate the approach to spawn these ideas at other times.

Of course, this would be a very good price to pay to enable going for a real nap.

Fri, Aug 12, 2005, @ 23:06
4- Troy Worman

I think this is a wonderful idea! I am a big fan of the power nap, but I would be shocked to hear of a Fortune 500 company with a pro-napping policy.

I’m curious. Is Jennifer’s office a home office. Having a hammock to crawl into after lunch sounds too good to be true.
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Posted by shland at October 30, 2005 11:35 AM

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