The NASA Nap Culture: Boosting Alertness & Productivity with Short Naps

Dr. Matt Walker discusses how @NASA discovered the benefits of short naps in the 1980s, leading to improved alertness and task productivity among astronauts and ground-based employees, fostering what is now known as the NASA nap culture.

[codystephens]

Boss: “sleeping on the job!? You’re fired!”
Me: “Oh no! I’m not napping, I’m increasing task productivity!”

[motorbikeray]

Ideal length of NASA nap is 26 minutes. NASA recommends drinking caffeine before doing the NASA nap to help boost energy levels after the nap. Why? Because it takes around 25 minutes for the caffeine to affect your body.

(Edited to add source of the above info)

ROSEKIND, M.R., SMITH, R.M., MILLER, D.L., CO, E.L., GREGORY, K.B., WEBBON, L.L., GANDER, P.H. and LEBACQZ, J.V. (1995), Alertness management: strategic naps in operational settings. Journal of Sleep Research, 4: 62-66.

[Melody-ymdo]

Both of these guys have nice low voices that are comfortable to listen to at night when trying to get to sleep. They're podcasts are full of really enlightening ideas/suggestions. Learning a lot from them.

[marquitomerkkks]

I’ve been taking naps since middle school when I was 13. I’ve been doing it since through college and now I’m 23. I thought it was a problem, but I won’t stop taking them now, thanks to dr Huberman

[CaGirl]

Absolutely, I completely eliminated the “3pm slump” by taking a 15mi. nap in my car on my lunch break. Just that short reset changed everything, including a higher energy level once home to complete small tasks like laundry or cleaning the bathroom so it didn’t pile up for the weekend, giving me more time on the weekends to get the relaxation I really needed. If you don’t drive to work, speak to your building maintenance person at the office to see if there is an unused or little used space that you could nap in. 15-20 min is all you need.

[belovedchild]

A daily nap for the last 4 years has changed my life in ways I couldn’t imagine.

[rsh]

We used to have these back in the day when I worked at the Embassy of Japan in London. It so helped

[shelby]

His insights on sleep hygiene have profoundly impacted my life. The more we hear about these topics, the more we can improve our mental health, cognitive function, and emotional well-being. Could you please invite Matthew Walker on the show more often?

[thomasbrown]

Man, I’m loving this Matt Walker series on Huberman’s podcast. Fascinating fellow and you can tell he adores his work!

[Minris]

I figured it out when I was working full time as a waitress and studying economics full time. That 30 minute Power Nap between study and work was EVERYTHING!

[Ender-Corbin]

One of my classmates in college taught me the power of napping. After doing it myself I was convinced for life. 😊

[newday]

Wow, I never realized the benefits were so great from even the shortest naps. Having occasional trouble staying asleep all night, would have to really experiment with power nap and times . Thank you for sharing

[TEMPESTsonofThunder]

Let’s learn from this. Let’s get rid of cigarette breaks (people don’t *need* to smoke cancer sticks anyways) and replace those with nap breaks.

[jaredklein]

We take naps at work all the time. It helps with the 12 hour shifts.

[EmiDam]

I think this is a great idea. I'm gonna suggest this to my boss. I work crazy hours. Split shifts and nights and day shifts. My sleep pattern is awful

[francisaselin]

Churchill started taking naps after his visit to Cuba in the 19th century. He said he could get a day and a half worth of work done a day. He was a prolific writer as well as a politician.

[chadocracy]

Interesting, I'd like to hear more about these so-called human beings

[leonardofernandez]

In the small towns in Uruguay they figured this out centuries ago 😅

[yfivmlp]

Everyone hating on the Matt looks. I think he looks cool!

[mertz]

I was in the Army when they rolled out a new regulation (or updating an existing one) allowing soldiers to sleep/nap when time/mission allowed. Was a godsend on slow days