The nap is victim of its bad reputation. The "sleeper" will be consider as lazy by its colleagues and its employer. However, a few minutes can improve employee productivity instead of fighting for long minutes completely ineffective against the fatigue of the early afternoon. Some companies permit their employees to have a power nap because it can regenerate, reduce stress, increase concentration, memory and alertness. But be aware, the nap must be time limited to be efficient. Indeed, during the day sink into a deep sleep for one or to two hours will make you more lethargic than dynamic! Go from five to twenty minutes.

Many sleep specialists strongly recommend this healthy practice. Francine Harmandon is a occupational doctor at the AMST in Toulouse. She worked for several years on the rhythms of sleep for workers, with Eric Mullens, MD somnologist. At the last meeting of medical officers gathered in Toulouse last June, she presented the work on this subject for many years. "To show that a power nap in the middle of the day is feasible in the workplace and benefit both the employee and the company we launched a study. We wanted to see if the rest had an influence on the heart rate."

A first experiment was conducted in June 2007 in an SME Toulouse, specializing in the certification of software applied in aviation. "They worked up to 13 hours a day, heavily involved in work that they do not generally complain, but that required a high mental workload throughout the day. They said they had to catch up on sleep, suffer fatigue and drank lots of coffee and tobacco, "says the doctor. The 19 volunteer employees were divided into three groups: those who were sleeping with music, those who were sleeping without music, and those who were not sleeping. Conclusion: the sleepers explained to have not fallen completely asleep, but have completely "disconnected" from work during this period, and then feel in great shape, more concentrated, available, and less "annoyed".

Encouraged by these good initial results, the team of Francine Harmandon has set up a second experiment in 2009 in another company of 70 employees in Toulouse, with standard working hours. Thirty volunteer employees randomly distributed as in the first experiment, were loaned to the game for four days. They filled every day using questionnaires including the Epworth scale measuring daytime sleepiness. The likelihood of drowsiness is rated from 0 to 3: the fourth day, sleepers noted an improvement in their vigilance.

There is a technique to acquire. Lying or sitting comfortably, isolate you and schedule a revival after 20 minutes. Relax, focus on your body, which gradually gets heavier and your breathing becomes deep, calm and steady. If the alarm sounds until you find sleep, repeat the following days. To help you, choose the ideal time between 14 hours and 15 hours: we are biologically programmed to feel tired at that time of the day. By creating a ritual, your body clock will adjust: you will fall asleep in seconds, and then emerge from this short recuperative sleep within minutes, without any alarm clock.

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