The Value of a Nap

Wayne is a habitual nap-taker. He takes one almost every day and has for years. To be honest it used to drive me crazy, that is until I did some research.

Then I discovered many other successful people who also were nappers:
Leonardo da Vinci took multiple naps a day and slept less at night.
The French Emperor Napoleon was not shy about taking naps. He indulged daily.
Though Thomas Edison was embarrassed about his napping habit, he also practiced his ritual daily.
Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, used to boost her by napping before speaking engagements.
Gene Autry, "the Singing Cowboy," routinely took naps in his dressing room betwen perfermances.
President John F. Kennedy ate his lunch in bed and then settled in for a nap—every day!
Oil industrialist and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller napped every afternoon in his office.
Winston Churchill’s afternoon nap was a non-negotionable.  He believed it helped him get twice as much done each day.
President Lyndon B. Johnson took a nap every afternoon at 3:30 p.m. in order to break his day up into “two shifts.”
Though criticized for it, President Ronald Reagan famously took naps as well.

Could these successful leaders know something I don’t?

Then there are the benefits.

A nap can restore alertnes.
It’s recommended that a short nap of 20–30 minutes “for improved alertness and performance without leaving you feeling groggy or interfering with nighttime sleep.”
A nap prevents burnout. In our always-on culture, we go, go, go. However, we were not meant to race without rest. Doing so leads to stress, frustration, and burnout. Taking a nap is like a system reboot. It relieves stress and gives you a fresh start.
A nap heightens sensory perception. Napping can restore the sensitivity of sight, hearing, and taste. Napping also improves your creativity by relaxing your mind and allowing new associations to form in it.
A nap reduces the risk of heart disease. Did you know those who take a midday siesta at least three times a week are 37 percent less likely to die of heart disease? Working men are 64 percent less likely! Taking a nap could turn out to be an important weapon in the fight against coronary mortality.
A nap makes you more productive. Numerous medical studies have shown workers becoming increasingly unproductive as the day wears on. But a study recetly demonstrated a 30-minute nap boosted the performance of workers, returning their productivity to beginning-of-the-day levels.

After all that I decided to shift my own thinking about naps. People who take them are not lazy. Even though it still might bug me, I’ve learned through all this that those who take naps regularly might just be the smartest, most productive people I know.

Blessings