When sleeping while on duty is considered almost across the world as an offence that could even cost one’s job, an Indian company has come up with a completely reverse idea — something being practiced popularly in Japan.
Yes, you heard it right. A Bengaluru start-up has officially announced a 30-minute power nap for its employees during the workday, reports NDTV.
On Thursday, Wakefit Solutions shared a post on Twitter with two images detailing the 'Right to Nap' and the times when employees can nap.
According to the post, Wakefit co-founder Chaitanya Ramalingegowda recently sent an internal email to colleagues announcing that employees can now take a quick nap between 2 and 2.30 pm.
“We have been in the business of sleep for over six years now and yet have failed to do justice to a crucial aspect of rest – the afternoon nap. We have always taken naps seriously, but starting today, we will be taking things up a notch,” he wrote in the mail.
“A Nasa study reveals that a 26-minute catnap can enhance performance by 33%, while a Harvard study shows how naps prevent burnout,” he added.
The company on Twitter also announced that the employees will have the right to nap every day for 30 minutes between 2:00 to 2:30 pm and the calendar of all employees will be blocked during this time as official nap time.
They are also working towards creating cozy nap pods and quiet rooms in the office to build the perfect nap environment for the employees, the company further wrote.
“Good decision,” a user commented on the post while the company has made replies to customers in the comment section.
James Maas, a social psychologist of Cornell University, coined the term power nap.
A power nap, often known as a cat nap, is a short sleep that occurs before deep sleep (slow-wave sleep). A power nap is meant to refresh the person up rapidly.
The Japanese way
In Japan, sleeping in the office is common and is socially accepted. In fact, it is often seen as a sign of diligence, as in “the person is so dedicated to their job that they worked themselves to exhaustion.”
And it is not untrue. Japan is one of the most sleep-deprived nations in the world. One study suggests that an average Japanese sleep only 6 hours and 35 minutes each night. Hence most fall asleep during a commute or at work, in parks, in coffee shops, in bookstores, in shopping malls, and in any other public place. It is so widespread and so normal, that the Japanese have a word for it—inemuri, which means “present while sleeping.”
A 2019 Nikkei Asia report claimed that a number of Japanese companies were already benefitting from on-the-job napping by their employees.