Why You SHOULD Nap At Work: Experts Say Taking 10-Minute Kips Will Make You More Creative

If you have a hard time being creative at work, taking a nap can help.

Falling asleep briefly can ignite a creative spark, a study suggests, by helping the brain link extract different thoughts from memory.

The researchers recruited 49 people and got half to think about a tree, to imitate a topic at work they needed to have ideas about, while the other half just focused on their thoughts.

Half of the people stayed awake doing any of the tasks, while the other half took a nap, before waking up one to five minutes later.

People in the study took five naps on average, longer than 45 minutes, to take advantage of sleep’s creative “sweet spot”: the first few minutes after falling asleep.

Study volunteers were then asked to write a story about a tree, which was rated for creativity based on originality, variety, and the number of ideas included.

After the nap, people were significantly more creative than when they stayed awake.

By giving them three minutes to think about possible uses for a tree, and then asking them to list verbs for tree-related words like leaf or branch, people were more creative after they were asleep.

People got an even greater boost to creativity if they were asked to think of a tree between naps.

The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, follows evidence that people are more creative at solving a number problem after taking a nap.

Thomas Edison, who perfected the incandescent electric light bulb, and the great surrealist artist Salvador Dali were reported to have used naps to make them more creative.

Kathleen Esfahany, who led the new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said: “The people who signed up were very good at napping and came to the lab after lunch, when they were most likely to fall asleep.”

“People were much more creative after napping, which shows the sweet spot of early sleep for coming up with unusual ideas.”

The study used a glove to monitor when people were falling asleep based on biological changes, including a drop in heart rate and relaxation of muscles.

They were woken one to five minutes later randomly, because this is the duration of the first stage of sleep, which evidence suggests may be best for creativity.

A computer instructed half the nappers to think of a tree before each nap, while half were told to observe their thoughts.

The same two different commands were given to the people who stayed awake.

People who napped showed greater creativity on average in their story and in the “semantic distance” of the words they chose when naming uses for trees or verbs for tree-related nouns.

Semantic distance is a good measure of creativity because it shows whether people have used words with diverse meanings.

For example, the people in the study who said a tree could be used as a giant toothpick or a witch’s broom were more creative than those who said it could be used for a tree house.

When researchers analyzed all three tasks, participants who nap and were told what to dream performed 43% more creatively than participants who nap without being told what to dream, and 78% more creatively than participants. who stayed awake without instructions on what to dream. dream with

Tips to fall asleep and sleep better

Insomnia means that you regularly have trouble sleeping. You can improve by changing your sleeping habits.

One in three adults in the UK and almost half of US adults suffer from insomnia, with millions more reporting sleepless nights.

Long-term sleep deprivation can cause obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

Insomnia can be caused by stress, anxiety, alcohol, caffeine or nicotine, noise, shift work, and jet lag.

If you have trouble sleeping regularly, there are simple ways to improve your sleep hygiene.

Keep regular hours of sleep

• Try to go to bed when you feel tired and get up at the same time every day.

Create a rest space

• Dark, quiet, and cool environments generally make it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep.

Move

• Exercise is good for physical health and mind. It can also help you sleep better. Just don’t do vigorous exercise too close to bedtime.

do not force it

• If you can’t fall asleep, get up and do something relaxing for a while. Then go back to bed when you feel a little sleepier.

write down your worries

• If you find your worries are keeping you up at night, try writing them down before you go to bed.

get off the caffeine

• Alcohol and caffeine can prevent you from falling asleep and getting a sound sleep. Cutting back on caffeine near bedtime and alcoholic beverages could help you miss the dose.

NHS source