Napping on the job…what was once grounds for getting fired is now being actively encouraged in some offices, many of them techie! But evidence is mounting that an afternoon nap is a perfect cure for the post-lunch lull. Some of the top companies in the world - like Google, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services, Zappos and more are bringing in "nap pods" or to their offices for their employees, and are seeing improved productivity in return.
According to the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 38 percent or American employees experienced "low levels of energy, poor sleep or a feeling of fatigue" during the past two weeks at work. The problems of fatigue extend beyond lost productivity, sleep deprivation can lead to increased accidents and health problems.
Besides problems like automobile accidents -sleep deprivation is responsible for an estimated 100,000 auto accidents a year - fatigue was a factor in some of the largest man-made disasters in recent memory including the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the Chernobyl disasters.
Chronic sleep deprivation can also increase your risk for heart disease, high blood pressure stroke, and diabetes. To help combat these issues, employers are beginning to take sleep seriously, and taking a nap at work is not the firing offense it once was. Essentially, a nap pod is a comfortable chair, with some sort of visor or door to block out outside light and minimize distractions.
A leader in creating these pods is Metronaps maker of The EnergyPod, a self-contained sleep pod that provides comfort, gentle music and innovative technology to make a unique nap experience. The ergonomic design elevates your legs and relaxes your lower back, with is perfect for someone like me who sits at a desk all day. The interface and built-in speakers that play a specifically composed song to drown out the background noise and ensure you get a restful, 20-minute nap.
Millennials are likely to embrace this trend as they adopt most flexible work policies as the norm for their generation. They are accustomed to having more input on how they spend their time at work than their parents would have, so deciding when they sleep is appealing to them as well.
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