Indonesian claimed to take naps every day. As you know, taking a timeout to sleep during the day gives us a quick energy boost. It also confers some serious cognitive and health advantages as well. But, how many Indonesians have the opportunity to take a nap? How long do they usually take a nap? Let’s look at the results below

Period: 2017/8/23 – 2017/12/31
Respondents: 500 Indonesia men and women

About 87.8 percent of respondents take a nap. Only 33.4 percent don’t.

Q: How often do you take naps in one week? (SA)

According to the survey above, about 48.6 percent, take naps every day. Taking a timeout to sleep during the day gives us a quick energy boost. It also confers some serious cognitive and health advantages as well.

Some of the respondents, namely 16 percent, take naps 3 to 4 times a week, followed by 1 to 2 times a week with 14.2 percent. For those who don’t take naps every day, it may be because everyone has different activities so that not all have free time to take a nap every day.

Q: What time do you take a nap? (SA)

A power nap is a sleep session that happens ideally between 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. If you take naps later than 4:00 p.m, you can disrupt your regular nighttime sleep. Luckily, 37.4 percent take naps at 1:00 p.m which that’s an ideal time. While 17.8 percent take naps at 12:00 p.m or during lunchtime.

Q: How long do you usually take a nap? (SA)

About 23.2 percent take naps for 30 to 45 minutes. While 22.8 percent only 15 to 30 minutes. Sleep scientists, Sara Mednick from the University of California, says that naps at different durations result in different benefits. A 10 to 20 minutes nap will provide a quick boost of alertness while mitigating the onset of sleep inertia. So that’s the ideal durations for taking naps. The longer you nap, the more likely you are to feel groggy afterward.

Q: What stuff do you use when taking a nap? (MA)

When taking a nap, pillows are chosen by 55.8 percent as stuff to accompany. A pillow can make them feel cuddled and cozy. But, a pillow needs to fit you. If you have very broad shoulders you and you are mostly a side sleeper, you need one thick enough to support your head levelly. Yet, if that is the case, it may be too thick when you’re lying on your back and could even affect your posture, that is, head jutted forward.

Q: What effect do you feel after you take a nap? (MA)

Napping offers various benefits for health. About 50.8 percent answered their head becomes light after taking naps. Or, 29.4 percent said napping improves their focus and ability to concentrate. Studies of napping have shown improvement in cognitive function, creative thinking, and memory performance. Naps can even have a physical benefit. In one study of 23,681 Greek men over six years, the participants who napped three times per week had a 37 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease. Also, naps have been shown to benefit the learning process, helping us take in and retain information better. That’s because napping helps to clear information out of your brain’s temporary storage areas, getting it ready for new information to be absorbed.

The Conclusion

Indonesians mostly have a nap routine every day for 30 to 45 minutes. They choose a pillow as stuff to accompany them while sleeping. A pillow can make them feel cuddled and cozy. Napping itself has many benefits such as can boost our brains, including improvements to creative problem solving, verbal memory, perceptual learning, object learning, and statistical learning. Naps improve our mood and feelings of sleepiness and fatigue. Not only that, but napping is also good for our heart, blood pressure, stress levels, and surprisingly, even weight management.

It would be nice if each company provides 10-20 minutes for each employee to take a nap. It will make employees more healthy and productive, which ultimately brings benefits to the company and the employees themselves.