Why Sleeping on the Job Can Be a Good Thing

Kim Kardashian does it. So do 23 percent of American workers. You can (and maybe should) do it, too, for about 30 minutes a day. We're talking about napping. Kardashian, the paparazzi-hounded star of Keeping Up with the Kardashians and Kourtney & Kim Take New York, says she naps to feel refreshed. And according to the just released "Workplace Power Outage Sleep Survey," commissioned by Philips Consumer Lifestyle, your employees are napping on the job because they're not getting enough sleep.

Russell Rosenberg, vice chairman of the National Sleep Foundation, and director of the Atlanta School of Sleep Medicine and Technology, says that while most people's "sleep needs vary [and are determined by heredity], the average person needs 7.5 hours of sleep a day." Some people need more, while others are "short sleepers," but Rosenberg says we shouldn't sleep less than 5.5 hours or more than nine hours daily on a regular basis.

Poor sleep habits are likely affecting your business -- and its bottom line. Rosenberg says the sleep survey "supports the link between sleep and workplace performance, and shows that inadequate sleep is a primary factor in poor job performance."

Some of the survey's findings are, well, eye-opening:

• 85 percent of office workers admit they'd be more productive if they slept more.
• 56 percent say they don't consistently get a good night's sleep.
• 37 percent of employees aren't ready to get up when the alarm goes off.
• 23 percent of employees confess to taking naps at work.

How can you tell is your staff is sleep-deprived? Rosenberg says tell-tale signs include:

• Not paying attention in meetings
• Inattention to detail
• Unexpected irritability
• Sudden increase in intake of caffeinated beverages
• Unfinished tasks and assignments

Napping on the job is generally frowned upon. But most of us experience a "natural dip in alertness after lunch," Rosenberg says, adding that many other cultures account for this with the afternoon siesta. He says napping is actually a healthy, refreshing behavior that promotes alertness, and suggests businesses "codify naptime."

Business owners can also benefit from napping. Lauree Ostrofsky, owner of SimplyLeap.com, a coaching business, typically sleeps about seven hours a night, but naps several times a week. "When I nap, I worry less," she explains. "I don't sit at my desk trying to 'figure out my business.' How will I find new clients? Is it better to schedule that meeting on Tuesday or Thursday? You know those nagging questions. If a decision isn't clear, or I don't know what to do next, I either take a walk or a nap, and the answer makes sense."

In a similar vein, Shonali Burke, a business communications consultant, swears that napping helps her to solve nagging problems and maintain her sanity. In a blog post, she wrote, "There's something to be said for just hitting 'pause' when you have so much to do that you don't know if you can do it all and still remain sane."

Ostrofsky recommends napping when you're "cranky and frustrated your ideas aren't gelling. Those are signals you need downtime." When she takes herself "out of the situation for at least 20 minutes," she says she always awakes refreshed and focused.

The problem, Rosenberg says, "is that it's still hard to get people to take sleep seriously." He suggests, if possible, that you set up a space where employees can nap, or at the very least make it clear that napping at breaks or during lunch is "perfectly acceptable." Exposure to bright morning light also helps energize people and spurs productivity. If nature doesn't provide it, he recommends getting the same benefits from using a light device.

Despite the frenetic pace of competing in today's 24/7 business environment, sleep is apparently one of the best solutions for you and your employees. As author John Steinbeck wrote, "It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it."