Italian Siesta
Having a siesta makes people work more and better
Workplace napping is a natural, no-cost way to increase worker productivity. Employers should allow (and even encourage) workers to nap on their work breaks.
Doctors, researchers and scientists (at Nasa) have finally quantified the benefits of the daily nap. It has been found that having a nap of 30 minutes in the middle of a working day recharge our brain, increase memory, concentration and so human productivity of 34%.
We Italians nap since the Roman times – at least. It’s more a physical need than a culture use. Have two hours for lunch break is generally the normal and taking a nap after lunch is common and natural for 50% of Italians – in hot summers it becomes more epidemic.
“Siesta” is always been connected to Latin countries and considered a sign of laziness – by Northern Europeans. The word itself come from Latin and means the sixth hour (of light), which is around midday. But everyone knows – in the south of Europe – a good nap does wonders for your productivity.
In France 20% of the workers admit to have a nap at home, but most of the time the workers who can not go home have a nap in the car outside their workplace.
The Spanish have created centres – “Masajes a 1000″ – where workers can go during lunch-break and relax with a little nap for 4 euros.
Sleepiness is a serious cause of automobile accidents – second only to drunkenness. After it has been found that Chernobyl and the Exxon oil tank disasters have been caused by human mistakes caused by lack of sleep, worldwide companies can no longer keep their eyes closed to the epidemic of sleepiness on the job and are now more worried about their workers’ sleep.
In Japan companies nearly force their employees to take a nap in special “napping rooms” to increase their productivity. Japanese companies that cannot afford such rooms have bought “desk top hair bag pillows” for their clerks to sleep on the desk and at work.
Some German companies have offered to their employees the chance to take 20 minutes extra time break at lunch time to rest – 98% have accepted and don’t care to leave work 20 minutes later. In China the “xiu-xi” (a nap) is guaranteed by the law.
Brahms napped at the piano while he composed his famous lullaby. Napoleon napped between battles. Churchill maintained that he had to nap in order to cope with his wartime responsibilities. Geniuses such as Edison and Da Vinci napped.
As the Bible says, “on the seventh day…God rested.” Even God naps! felix