'Nap Rooms' Encourage Sleeping on the Job to Boost Productivity
By: NBC News
Updated: March 15, 2013
At a growing number of companies across the country, sleeping on the job is considered a good thing.
With more Americans failing to get adequate sleep, companies like The Huffington Post and Nationwide Planning Associates have created "nap rooms" for employees to grab a few z's in hopes of making them more productive at work.
At Nationwide Planning, there is one nap room for the New Jersey office's 20 workers. "We call it the 'rejuvenation center' to put a more positive spin on it,'' Nationwide Planning's James Colleary told TODAY Friday. "People associate napping with laziness.''
Colleary pushed for a nap room, and company executives quickly noticed happier, more productive employees.
"The nap for me, personally speaking, really allows me to approach the second half of the day with a lot more force,'' Mike Karalewich, Nationwide Planning's chief compliance officer, told TODAY."I firmly believe that napping breaks will become the new coffee break eventually,'' Colleary said.
According to a 2011 poll by the National Sleep Foundation, 43 percent of Americans claim they don't get enough sleep. A power nap can't replace all of that lost sleep, but it certainly doesn't hurt. To make the most of your nap, experts say, rest in a cool, dark room and limit your nap to 20 or 30 minutes.
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