The Business Case for Napping

I've never met a nap I didn't like. It's been a lifelong love affair on Saturdays and Sundays, but I've only ever fantasized about the midday workweek nap. If the science is right, though, our next great business strategy may be building a team of power nappers.

With stress and technology keeping so many of us up at night, we're bringing tired bodies to work. As Arianna Huffington laid out in Harvard Business Review, the costs add up:

• $63 billion in lost productivity a year

• Impaired thinking and a greater likelihood of unethical behavior

• A less-than-professional look (never more obvious than in the Zoom age, with unforgiving cameras 18 inches from our faces)

An evening routine and a healthy sleep environment (no phones, folks) are the right place to start. But there's also a business case to be made for the corporate siesta. After all, napping has been shown to:

• Improve alertness and performance

• Enhance learning and memory

• Lower the risk of heart disease

• Reduce fatigue and improve mood

Next year's planning will be underway before you know it. Is the nap room going to make the cut?