On a summer afternoon, the sun blazes bright, and the wind is still. Inside the house and outside the street, everything is quiet and serene. In a corner, a grandmother holds her grandchild close. They lie in a hammock, swaying back and forth, the creaking sound following a rhythmic pattern.
The grandmother begins to sing a lullaby:
“Sleep, my dear, sleep long
Your mother is out in the deep fields, not yet home.”The child listens with delight, appearing to drift into a gentle sleep, while the grandmother also seems to be dozing off with her eyes half-closed.
“Yes, sleep, my dear, sleep soundly,
Your mother works hard all day long.” (1)
Reflecting on this passage written over half a century ago, the author draws two lessons from the “Education Handbook”:
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The bond of family and the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren in Vietnamese culture. Grandparents take care of grandchildren while parents labor to provide for the family. The sacrifices of the elderly in Vietnam are profound and invaluable!
The second lesson is about health and the benefits of a midday nap, which the author wishes to briefly document…
Napping has been a common practice for all living beings on Earth for thousands of years, based on common sense derived from life experience.
Sleep expert Dr. Gregg Jacobs states: “The benefits of napping during the day have been the focus of research, and science confirms them. We hope that at some point, public and private organizations can allow employees ten minutes for a nap instead of just a break.”
Former UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill admitted that he had a habit of napping for half an hour after lunch, but afterward, he worked very efficiently. According to the cigar-loving Prime Minister: “Nature did not intend for humanity to toil from eight in the morning until midnight without a short break. Even just twenty minutes is enough to restore all of one’s energy.”
As children, kids are often playful and sneak out to the garden to play instead of napping. Grandparents would watch over them, insisting they go to bed. In preschool, children are also allotted half an hour after lunch to close their eyes and sleep. Even animals like cows and buffalo, after a long day of plowing the fields, lie under the bamboo trees, blinking their eyes, to regain strength for the afternoon work.
The tradition of napping is still observed in many countries, especially in tropical regions.
In Vietnam, from scholars to common laborers, everyone takes a midday nap throughout the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Only in some industrialized nations, to save time, people work straight from morning to evening, with just half an hour for lunch and a few minutes for coffee breaks. However, lunchtime is often used for rushing to buy items on sale, which can be more exhausting.
Therefore, Dr. Antonia Will comments on this work schedule: “The modern work schedule was established without regard for the body’s actual needs. People think only of coffee breaks without considering the importance of relaxing and closing their eyes; they focus on artificial stimulation rather than natural health restoration. This is a significant mistake.”
Gerald Celente, Director of a biological research organization in New York, believes that people need some time to recharge and harmonize their minds.
According to Dr. Jesse Hanley, humans need a break after lunchtime because, at that time, most people are depleted of energy. The adrenal glands, by midday, are no longer producing enough hormones necessary for bodily functions. If one does not rest, they may feel anxious and restless, seeking stimulation through coffee or sugary drinks. However, just ten to fifteen minutes of sleep can restore normal function to the adrenal glands.
However, due to societal norms, some people feel embarrassed or awkward admitting they want to take a nap. Others fear that waking up from a short nap will leave them groggy and unable to work.
The Benefits of Napping
Biologically, when working continuously without breaks, the body accumulates fatigue. This exertion not only depletes energy but also produces many waste chemicals and toxins that can impair the nervous system. This consequence can only be alleviated by sleep.
Experience shows that with moderate fatigue, a short rest is sufficient for recovery, but if fatigue is more significant, the recovery time must be doubled. Working to exhaustion can weaken the adrenal glands as they continually produce hormones to cope. Normally, these glands are most active early in the morning, gradually increasing until noon, then decreasing to their lowest levels between 3 and 5 PM.
A prominent American architect, Buckminster Fuller, practiced napping for half an hour after every three hours of work, both day and night. He reported feeling very alert and productive, and after a few months of this routine, his health check-up results were excellent.
According to many people’s experiences, napping makes them more alert and agile, allowing them to handle sensitive and complicated tasks effectively.
William Anthony, author of “The Art of Napping at Work,” states that a short nap at the workplace is the cheapest and most natural way to boost employee productivity.
Author Charles P. Kelly, a renowned sleep expert, shares his personal experience regarding this matter.
While in college, he worked part-time selling over the phone. One day, he was so tired that he fell asleep for half an hour. When he woke up, he worried he wouldn’t have enough time to reach his sales quota. However, the opposite occurred: not only did he meet his goal, but he exceeded it because he felt refreshed and articulate, more persuasive than on previous days. From then on, he continued to nap for half an hour after every lunch to work later in the evening.
Historically, there are many examples of the benefits of napping.
Inventor Thomas Edison is often thought to sleep very little, less than eight hours a day. However, he stated that while working, he would nap whenever he felt tired or unfocused. He never worked more than four hours without short naps and breaks.
Former U.S. President Harry Truman made it a habit to sleep for an hour after lunch; President Teddy Roosevelt would always take a nap during his campaign tours.
According to statistics from insurance companies and the U.S. Department of Transportation, a significant number of car accidents occur due to drivers pushing themselves too hard, driving continuously for many hours. Meanwhile, many people find that after a few hours of driving, stopping on the side of the road for ten minutes of shut-eye is more refreshing than drinking a strong cup of coffee.
In a study about pilots’ sleep habits conducted by NASA, pilots acknowledged that they do nap during the day, which is usually prohibited while flying. Crews often cross multiple time zones, disrupting their sleep patterns, and sometimes they get less than six hours of sleep per day. Research results indicated that many pilots nap during the day, but they do not log it on their flight plans.
Night shift workers often face challenges with digestion. They eat at times that deviate from the normal biological rhythm, resulting in stomach acid being secreted at inappropriate times for digestion. Additionally, for those with certain conditions like epilepsy or diabetes, working night shifts can exacerbate their ailments. Therefore, to prevent these issues, proposals have been made to allow night shift workers to nap during work or before their shifts. This sleep helps them stay alert throughout the night.
In the history of medicine in the United States, there have been numerous cases of accidents occurring due to continuous work without breaks.
An anesthesiologist was brought to court for sleeping while administering anesthesia to a patient for surgery. Witnesses testified that during the procedure, the anesthesiologist was responsible for monitoring the patient’s condition. However, he dozed off for a few minutes at the critical moment when the patient’s blood pressure dropped, leading to the patient’s death. In court, he claimed that he was exhausted after several consecutive surgeries that day.
Infants have an unstable sleep schedule and require midday naps for growth. In infants, the circadian rhythm of day and night sleep has not yet been established. At birth, babies sleep for a few hours, then wake to play for about an hour before sleeping again. Between 2 to 8 weeks, babies change their sleep/wake cycle every four hours. From 3 months to 1 year, they begin to sleep more at night, around 6 to 8 hours, and decrease daytime sleep in the morning and afternoon. After some time, young children only keep the daytime nap until they are 3 or 4 years old.
Sleep Time and Sleep Position
Depending on the individual, most agree that a nap around midday is the most beneficial.
According to research by Dr. Nathaniel Kleitman, during a night’s sleep, a person’s productivity gradually increases from the moment they wake up, reaching a peak during the day before gradually declining, with the lowest point occurring at night. However, if one takes a short nap during the afternoon, there will be two peaks of productivity instead of just one.
Many people, upon starting to feel fatigued, losing focus, or lacking energy, immediately take a break or go for a cup of coffee or a soda to boost their energy levels.
The position one takes to nap is also important. Some people sit upright in their chairs, while others sit cross-legged on the floor, and some lie back with their feet on the table, removing their shoes for relaxation, and then close their eyes to sleep.
Preparing for an Afternoon Nap
Napping correctly requires thoughtful preparation and adherence to a few guidelines:
- Find a quiet, comfortable place to rest your eyes.
- Turn off the lights and put away your phone. A piece of dark fabric over your eyes to block out light is ideal.
- Set an alarm for 10 minutes. Oversleeping can lead to grogginess as you may enter deep sleep, making it hard to wake up.
- Close your eyes, relax, and clear your mind.
- Focus on your breathing, observing the air entering your nose, throat, and lungs.
- Breathe a bit loudly so you can hear your breath and concentrate on it.
Many believe that simply lying still with their eyes closed can restore energy like sleep, but the processes differ. When asleep, the pupils constrict, and the deeper the sleep, the smaller the pupils become. In contrast, when resting with eyes closed, the pupils remain dilated.
During a nap, many people naturally wake up without needing an alarm, as they sleep longer or shorter depending on their body’s need for fatigue relief. Consequently, fatigue dissipates quickly, preventing the accumulation of tiredness, and productivity levels rise.
If you don’t believe it, give it a try!
But remember to close the door, lest your boss catches you napping, and you find yourself in trouble with your colleagues.
Dr. Nguyễn Ý-Đức
