Afternoon at work may never be the same. A new trend aimed less at improving worker efficiency has started to become more popular in Japan — power napping.
Power naps have started to become accepted policy at many Japanese companies, and with good reason. Naps, which employees used to steal at coffee shops, on trains or wherever they could, are no longer being viewed as a sign of laziness or incompetence, but as an essential means of maintaining attention and performance at work.
A large body of research has found that naps help to keep performance levels high and prevent mistakes, especially in the afternoon when many people feel drowsy. When workers feel sleepy, work performance suffers.