That sleep is fundamental to our performance and general wellbeing at work is something that should require little elaboration.  Yet, despite the plethora of studies highlighting the upside of well rested employees, the number of organizations that allow employees to have a short nap during the work day remains very low.

There remains a sense that having a catnap during the work day is tantamount to loafing off and will do little to ingratiate you with your boss.

I’m not sure such reluctance to kip on the job is down to a lack of evidence, but just in case, a new study from the University of Michigan provides further grist for the mill.

The benefit of nap pods at work

The researchers found that when employees took a short nap at work it was effective in reducing impulsive behavior and created a buffer against frustration.  What’s more, it also proved a cheap and effective way of improving safety.

So in other words, employees appeared to be safer, happier and more productive at work when they were allowed a bit of time to sleep and refresh.

The study, which was published in Personality and Individual Differences, offered participants a variety of sleep options during their typical work day, before then completing a range of tasks and surveys designed to gage their mood and impulsivity.

The results revealed that those who benefited from a short nap were both more diligent when attempting the task, and more successful at it.

The study chimes with previous research that underlined how important sleep was in providing a buffer against our more impulsive and anti-social behaviors, whether that’s snapping at those around or us, cheating or just generally loafing off.

“Our results suggest that napping may be a beneficial intervention for individuals who may be required to remain awake for long periods of time by enhancing the ability to persevere through difficult or frustrating tasks,” the authors conclude.

The challenge now, of course, is to make such activity socially acceptable in the workplace.  That’s a challenge that I suspect will have some hurdles to overcome yet.