Losing just one hour of sleep can lead to these effects. The worst part? When I chopped my day into two parts, I frequently had to pressure myself to finish a task on time before my siesta break. That pushed me to do some experimenting with scheduling varying amounts of time to get important tasks done throughout the day.
In that experimenting, I realized something huge:. When you limit how much time you give yourself to work on an important task, you force yourself to expend more energy over less time so you can get the task done. A lot of people take the alternative approach, and throw more time at a problem. That approach works, but you only have so much time every day to give to your work and you have way more energy than you do time. As soon as I had less time to do work in every day, I became more diligent with how I spent it.
Scheduling and compressing your important tasks down into a block of time is a great way to hunker down and get more done. The more attention the project gets, the more I feel obligated to write non-stop, and push myself harder to do more and more. Even throughout the course of this experiment, when I took a step back from my work for each three-hour siesta, I noticed that I was being needlessly hard on myself for taking a break instead of working, even though taking a break was part of the experiment.
Plus, what you end up accomplishing will mean a lot less. The streets of a city in Spain during siesta. The way the traditional siesta is designed, every single element of the ritual is designed to energize you. Taking a break will help you recharge and step back from your work. Sleeping more will give you more focus and attention for the rest of the day. Spending time with friends or loved ones will relieve your stress , and motivate you. It would be totally crazy for me to recommend that you integrate a three-hour daily siesta into your life.
Old hairdresser sleeping at working image source. Two men sleeping on bench image source. Chris Bailey has written hundreds of articles on the subject of productivity, and is the author of two books: Hyperfocus , and The Productivity Project.
His books have been published in 20 languages. Chris writes about productivity on this site, and speaks to organizations around the globe on how they can become more productive, without hating the process. A practical guide for managing your attention —the most powerful resource you have to get stuff done, become more creative, and live a meaningful life.
A personal and entertaining exploration of how to be more productive at work and in every facet of our lives. No spam—ever. Productivity Experiments Productivity Experiment: Should you take a three-hour afternoon siesta?
Takeaway : Even though three-hour long siestas are incompatible with Western ized work cultures, the components that comprise a traditional Spanish siesta—taking a break, napping, eating well, spending time with loved ones, and disconnecting from your work—are all very beneficial for your productivity.
I highly recommend that you nap when your energy levels dip, if you can. Meditating for 35 hours over 7 days. Watching 70 hours of TED talks over 7 days. Living in total isolation for 10 days. Working hour weeks. Rotating between dressing forma, business casual, and in pyjamas for 21 days. Medically Reviewed by Dr.
Anis Rehman. What Is a Siesta? Benefits of the Siesta There are many benefits to incorporating a siesta into your daily routine. Reduce Sleep Debt Most adults need approximately seven to nine hours of sleep each night. Improve Cognition and Performance Sleep disruptions can directly impact overall health , affecting the ability to handle stress, diminishing cognition and memory , as well as increasing accidents at work and home.
Sign up below for your free gift. Your privacy is important to us. Was this article helpful? Yes No. Anis Rehman Endocrinologist MD. In Merriam-Webster. Retrieved on May 15, Jones, J. BBC Worklife. Hirshkowitz, M. National Sleep Foundation's sleep time duration recommendations: Methodology and results summary. Sleep Health, 1 1 , 40— Basner, M. American time use survey: Sleep time and its relationship to waking activities. Sleep, 30 9 , — Brooks, A. A brief afternoon nap following nocturnal sleep restriction: Which nap duration is most recuperative?
Sleep, 29 6 , — Medic, G. Short- and long-term health consequences of sleep disruption. Nature and Science of Sleep, 9, — Watson, N.
Sleep, 38 6 , — Mantua, J. Exploring the nap paradox: Are mid-day sleep bouts a friend or foe? Sleep Medicine, 37, 88— Lovato, N. The effects of napping on cognitive functioning. Progress in Brain research, , — Tietzel, A. The short-term benefits of brief and long naps following nocturnal sleep restriction. Sleep, 24 3 , — Hilditch, C. A minute, but not a minute nighttime nap is associated with sleep inertia. Sleep, 39 3 , — A deep-seated fear of losing their jobs has left many Spanish employees spending even more time at their desks.
The fear of losing their jobs has also made Spanish workers far more sceptical of using flexible working policies, says Grau. The fear is perhaps stronger in Spain than other countries because of the severe effect the economic crisis had on the country combined with its historic tendency towards presentismo.
Working later into the night - or presentismo - has become particularly prevalent in Spain following the most recent financial crisis Credit: Getty Images. Her firm is one of an growing number of Spanish companies encouraging their employees to embrace a more flexible working culture and making a concerted effort to move away from the old culture of presentismo.
Another company offering flexible working to its plus employees is Tecalum, which produces aluminium parts in Girona, north eastern Spain.
Tecalum also offers its staff a flexible starting time each day. This approach has had a major impact on the lives of the people who work there. In the Spanish government even tried to take steps to shorten the working day by up to two hours by putting an end to long lunch breaks. Some experts believe the traditional siesta may still have a place in the modern working world, especially when so many of us are apparently already sleep-deprived.
A recent survey by the Flex Sleep Research Centre showed the average amount of sleep people get per night in Spain is 7. While this is more sleep than people get in countries including the United States where people sleep, on average, 6. The initiative ran under the slogan "save our siesta" Credit: Hotels. Some experts believe returning the nation to its former time zone would go some way to addressing the issue of sleep deprivation among Spaniards.
The Spanish also go to sleep later than their European neighbours. According to Eurostat , Spaniards go to bed, on average, at midnight, compared to Germans at 10pm, the French at He believes there may still be a place for the siesta in Spain and other parts of the world.
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