The Hindu Business Line : Dozing at work

REPORTEDLY in January this year, a judge in one of the biggest robbery trials in British history admitted that he was asleep during part of the proceedings. One witness described the judge's head as lolling forward so far it almost touched the desk in front of him. Another said he was snoring audibly — an accusation the judge denies.

Though one has not heard of such judicial infractions here, it is not difficult to imagine the judges wanting to catch up on some sleep. The babus, of course, have always spoken to the press about their sleeping habits during office hours.

The former Prime Minister, Mr Deve Gowda, was caught napping some years ago, and the media had a field day. The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee's pregnant pauses between phrases leads one to suspect that he is sleeping with his eyes open.

History records that da Vinci, Churchill, Einstein and Edison took their afternoon shuteye as seriously as their vocations. Yet, due to modern society's fetish for productivity and so-called professionalism, falling asleep on the job is taboo, if not an offence. However, scientists think otherwise. Their advice to anyone agonising over a tricky puzzle is: "Sleep on it". Similarly, a study of mathematical problem-solving has shown that a few hours of good sleep gives a fresh perspective.

Researchers think that sleep stimulates lateral thinking. Temporary memories are said to be stored in one area of the brain, and the "permanent" memories in another. Scientists think that memories are reordered and re-recorded from one region to another during sleep. This seems to improve the problem-solving capacity of the brain. "A 30-minute `power nap' will be enough to give workers the benefits of REM sleep" says Mr Ribeiro in a recent issue of the science magazine Nature. Such an allowance can combat stress and boost performance.

One NASA survey showed that 71 per cent of corporate aviation pilots, 80 per cent of regional pilots and 66 per cent of hospital workers said they "sacked out" on the job. Less seriously, though, it appears a travesty of fate that all nappers are not created equal. Those who have the keys to the executive toilet can get away with it, but those chained to their desk in the cubicles have to go to absurd lengths to catch a wink.

The best course to boost productivity should be to promote dozing at work. Why not institutionalise nap breaks, like the coffee break?

R. Sundaram

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