Dozing at the Desk?

Confession time. At some point in our working lives, we’ve all suffered from classic cases of afternoon slumps and post-lunch dips. What is it about these pangs that simply steers us away from work? Researchers have for long emphasised the benefits of a good sound sleep and feel it is completely natural for humans to want to go back to sleep about seven hours after they have awakened. It is widely believed that the human mind can be wholly attentive for a period of only 35-40 minutes at best, after which it starts to wander and slacken.

Robert Stickgold, an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, in a write-up in Harvard Business Review, even goes on to suggest that a few minutes of shut-eye at work could be good to combat the problem of lethargy. “Important memory processing occurs as you’re falling asleep, and the brain appears to be tagging memories of unresolved problems for subsequent processing,” he says. Even micronaps of six minutes—not including the time it takes to fall asleep, which is about five minutes if you are really tired—make a difference, according to Stickgold.

While catching up on some much-needed sleep at home is all very well, pro-napping policies aren’t usually the norm in most organisations, and at times, are not always feasible. “Such plans are good for BPOs and fields like media and medicine that require long working hours, but not for organisations that entail eight-hour shifts. This is because our bodies can be easily attuned to put in those many hours,” says Dr Rachna Khanna Singh, Lifestyle Expert and Psychological Counsellor, Artemis Health Institute, Delhi.

She attributes drowsiness to a host of stressrelated factors and instead of quick naps, suggests regular-moderate breathing exercises that release positive hormones and act as great stress busters. Diet plans and practices come next. Employees should stick to a designated time for all their meals and it would be a good idea to avoid fatty and fried stuff at the workplace. “Stick to raw salads and vegetables as they supply the much-needed nutrients to the brain. And that coffee will give you a temporary high, but the body is bound to feel sluggish eventually,” she concludes.