Wake Us When You’re Ready
The best news we’ve heard in a long time is that sleep researchers now think a little shut-eye in the afternoon is precisely what nature intended for the refreshment of mankind.
We ourselves have always been acutely aware of the biological urge to cork off as the day drags on, but that’s something we thought it prudent not to talk about in polite society. The truth of the matter is that our inclination to catch a nap has always been accompanied by a feeling of profound moral irresponsibility, no doubt arising from the culturally imposed notion that after the age of 5, real people sleep only when it’s dark outside. Now, thanks to the studies of scientists around the world, that terrible burden of guilt has been lifted. From here on we will feel at liberty to nod off any afternoon we feel like it, without regret, resistance, shame or remorse.
Of course, any such naps will have to be enjoyed only on weekends and holidays, since our employer--like others-- frowns on the prospect of paying people for snoozing on the job. As it happens, employers may be doing themselves a disservice by holding to this traditional attitude. It’s long been known that work performance declines in mid-afternoon as loginess takes hold. Worse, the accident rate rises significantly in the afternoon hours, a fact that seems directly linked to a fall-off in mental alertness.
Conventional wisdom has long held that afternoon sleepiness is the price we pay for eating heavy lunches. Not so, say researchers. What studies have determined is that drowsiness sets in, lunch or no lunch, about 12 hours after the midpoint of the day’s main sleeping period. Thus if a person sleeps from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., chances are that by 3 or 3:30 in the afternoon the body is ready--if not frantically in need of--a nice restorative doze.
People in tropical climates have always been smart enough to go with the flow instead of trying to fight what nature has programmed, making the siesta a normal and salutary part of their lives. Maybe it’s time for people in other parts of the world to get back in touch with their biological imperative and set aside a portion of each afternoon for an efficiency-raising, grumpiness-reducing nap. That’s a splendid idea for someone to drop into the boss’s suggestion box. Don’t forget to wake us if you get an answer.
