The key to healthy career success – napping during the workday?
As mounting evidence emerges regarding the health benefits and increase in productivity as a result of afternoon naps, more and more people are publicly speaking about the value they place in the humble power nap.
Arianna Huffington, of Huffington Post fame, regularly speaks of its importance – in fact, she claims sleep is her number one tip to success!
Okay, so we really understand the importance of getting a good night’s sleep and we know that taking a nap is a great way to recharge your batteries, however we are not in college anymore where we could easily squeeze in a two hour nap in between seminars and studies. Now, we’re actually working a full-time job during the week. So, how can we possibly take a nap when we’re working all day and trying to have a functioning social life all at the same time?
Dayuse.com is an online booking service for just that; allowing you to book a hotel room for a few hours during the workday. One of their key customer bases is business people — whether it be sleeping midst transit/travel for a few hours, or workers going to have a nap and recharge their batteries during their normal workday.
The company launched in 2010 and today, Dayuse.com operates in over 14 countries worldwide. Dayuse.com launched in the UK in 2014, and has over 300 hotels on board (160 of which are in London), and has over 4,000 bookings per month!
Here are some ways that taking a nap during the day is a great way to help your career and health.
1. Reduce Stress. We all need sleep to function. And a small nap is a great way to get your mind off of your current worries. Lack of sleep can make you irritable and leave you feeling more stressed than you probably are. Taking a rest can give you a break from your worrying which can reduce your stresses and anxieties. Remember, the answers you seek never come when the mind is busy, they come when the mind is still.
2. Helps You To Refocus. Trying to find something to do to get your mind off of your anxieties and stresses is a great way to relax. A person could take a nap using Dayuse.com which will give you a fresh perspective on things. This will distract you from your current worries and helps you to refocus.
3. Boosts Productivity. Taking a small nap is a great way to take a break from your endless to-do list and busy work schedule. Instead of working 8 hours straight in a given workday, taking a small break or small nap can recharge your batteries and increase productivity levels, helping you increase your work productivity at your job.
4. Reduce Your Weight. People who are well rested tend to eat less calories in a typical day. Perhaps due to the fact they are less likely to reach for that cubicle ‘snack’. A person can talk to their doctor for more information on how people can reduce their weight by being well rested.
5. Reduces Depression. A lack of sleep at night can cause both physical and psychological ailments, including chronic issues like obesity, diabetes, stress, and cognitive impairment. People who lack sleep are also more likely to develop depression. A nap can help you regain this loss of sleep that you had the night before.
6. Saves You Money. Instead of spending all that money on Starbucks and Redbull, taking a nap can boost your energy the natural and more effective way. This will decrease your dependence on energy drinks to help you stay awake.
7. Enhances Creativity. The mind loves a nap. Daytime sleep can enhance creative thinking, boost cognitive processing and improve our memory during the workday. Recent studies shows that if you sleep the proper amounts of hours, you can improve your memory. Research conducted by Men’s Fitness told us that when people looked at images and then were either allowed to sleep or forced to remain awake, the people that were able to sleep could recall the objects much better than the people that were forced to stay awake. In other words, sleep enhances our memories. So even though this is not a cure, it can certainly help!
Taking a nap helps us to be more aware of our surroundings instead of being tired all the time. There have been new studies that go in to more details on how our napping can improve our health and also improve our career performance. Studies have shows that napping can also provide other advantages that can help improve our lives.
For more information talk to your doctor about how taking a nap during the day can help your career and health. It is also important to talk to your boss about how he or she thinks of taking a break during the work day to recharge your batteries.
