It’s getting to be that time of day, when your morning coffee has long worn off, a busy day feels like it won’t end, and your lunch is still heavy in your stomach. It’s getting to be that time of day: time for a nap, that is.

After a busy morning, a quick nap can help you feel refreshed and have a productive afternoon. Personally, I like to take a 30 minute nap right after lunch. Without it, I can definitely feel my eyelids get heavy when two or three o’clock rolls around. More professionals should join me and take a quick nap in the office as a routine.

The virtues of napping are scientifically explained by the interaction between two biological processes.  The homeostatic propensity for sleep encourages you to doze off based on how long you have been awake.  Opposing that propensity is the circadian rhythm, which tries to keep you awake during daylight hours.  However, the circadian push for wakefulness does not generally kick in fully until the late afternoon.  Until then, your body will naturally descend into a lethargic state of low energy.

There have been many studies, with randomized control trials, on the efficacy of napping (such as this one).  These studies consistently show that napping significantly increases alertness and productivity on a variety of measures.  According to these studies, the majority of people derive most of the benefits from napping during the initial 10 to 20 minutes.

Some people claim they just can’t take a nap.  Here’s my secret formula – close your office door, stop all phone calls, take off your shoes, put your feet up on a desk or a chair, and cover your eyes with a blindfold.  This formula is designed to create a feeling of being suspended in a sheltered cocoon – which helps me doze off.

Other people say that they are afraid to take an afternoon nap because they will sleep for several hours.  In fact, there is such an invention that will prevent this: it’s called an “alarm clock.”  After a few weeks of alarms, you will automatically start to wake up when you should.

Unfortunately, many employees do not find themselves in situations where they feel it would be acceptable to take a short nap without attracting the ire of their superiors. But enlightened managers should allow short naps so that their workers will be more alert later in the day. In a Zogby poll, 40% of workers said that they would take a nap if they were allowed to do so and a space were set aside for them to doze off.^[3] Letting subordinates nap would both endear the boss to the employees and lead to higher productivity in the late afternoon.