Sleeping Pods: A Growing Corporate Napping Culture

In today’s world, where people work to stay ahead in every competition, they find it hard to complete their sleep at night owing to overtime, urgent projects and other responsibilities—lack of sleep results in several health issues and life-altering events. But the emergence of sleeping pods or nap rooms is rapidly changing this scenario.

Afternoon naps are familiar to people worldwide. Though napping doesn’t give you the satisfaction of 8-9 hours of peaceful sleep on the best mattress at home, it has its other benefits. And, many are recognizing the importance of it now. It made many top-level companies install sleeping pods on their premises, such as Facebook, Google, Uber, and others. The napping culture is slowly spreading to other businesses, which are seeing better results by implementing sleep pods.

Is there one at your company? If not, you should think about installing it because there is a lot more to using sleep pods than you might think.

Why is an afternoon nap beneficial?

Many consider afternoon napping as a sign of laziness, unproductivity and the reason behind not being able to sleep at night. Though it’s true in some cases, it’s wrong in many cases. Most of the employees handle more responsibilities than just doing office chores. The list includes mothers, single parents, children who have sick parents and so on. They all fulfil their duties to their home by aiding their children and sick parents before going to the office. Also, they have never-ending tasks post office hours at home like cooking, cleaning, etc.

All this round-the-clock keeps them sleep-deprived and away from spending quality relaxation time on their favourite luxury mattress at night most of the time, which takes a toll on their health, exhausting them completely.

Reduced stress and fatigue

Researchers have proven that sleep is essential to relieve stress, fatigue, and tiredness. Napping is short sleep which also has the same benefits as a whole night’s sleep. An afternoon nap helps reduce stress and tiredness and rejuvenates you.

Improves Productivity and creativity

Not sleeping enough causes reduced productivity and impacts not only employees but also the companies. A short nap of 20 to 30 minutes helps improve a person’s energy, attention and speed.

Napping also helps improve creativity in a person as sleep helps bring a refreshed approach towards things. It enhances cognitive thinking and helps develop new ideas, a huge requirement in many companies.

Improves mood, and emotional quotient

It’s been long proven that sleep has a considerable impact on an individual’s mood and emotions. A lack of sleep makes you frustrated, unhappy and irritated, which can make you impolite and hateful towards others. This moody behaviour is highly unethical in the work culture and affects employees’ impressions and positions in the company.

Napping helps a person’s mood to enlighten and behave better towards others. The work doesn’t seem like bothersome tasks are finished efficiently.

Improves clarity and decision-making power

Sleep-deprived people mostly fail to comprehend details about their work. Rereading doesn’t help, and caffeine also fails to work. Napping helps you get a clearer perspective and more clarity about the task.

Clarity helps you make a better judgment as you are able to understand better. Lack of sleep causes confusion and clouds reasoning ability which a simple nap can convert into better understanding.

What are sleeping pods?

It’s difficult to buy mattress online for companies to provide a resting place for their employees. Therefore, employees can replenish their energy by resting or napping in pods. Sleeping pods are specialized chairs that offer a peaceful and relaxing environment for taking naps. They are also known as sleep pods, nap capsules, or nap pods and are commonly used in the workplace, hospitals, and universities.

The majority of sleeping pods come in two varieties. The first is an ergonomic chair with a round-shaped structure that covers the head for seclusion, and the second is a set of individual bed-sized cabinets. AI technology and ambient features are frequently used to aid napping pods, which allow a person to take a good nap.

Reasons for having sleeping pods:

There are four main factors why nap pods are superior to desk rest:

Better napping atmosphere

Whether you are sleeping or napping, a quiet, dark atmosphere works magic. Light exposure impacts our circadian rhythm, and noisy surroundings prevent you from relaxing. The nap pods are designed with a better atmosphere by creating a private chamber-like structure with dim lights or complete darkness.

Ergonomic design

Sleeping in awkward positions on a desk or office chair may result in body pain and aches. Napping pods come with ergonomic designs which allow you to sleep comfortably. The ergonomic structure lifts your legs and soothes your lower back, making it ideal for someone who sits at a desk all day.

Built-in timer

Many times people fail to wake up all by themselves post 20-30 minutes of nap out of exhaustion or deep sleep. Many seek their co-workers’ help to wake them up, which might disturb the co-worker. Nap capsules have built-in timers which allow you to wake up at desired time without disturbing co-workers.

Calming Music

According to studies, white or pink sounds assist your mind to rest considerably faster than quietness. Nap pods can play soothing music, which aids in relaxation. Sleep pods can also link to mobile devices to listen to podcasts or favourite tunes.

Who should have sleeping pods?

As time has passed, the daily schedule has gotten more intensive, and rest or sleep has become a luxury. Almost all industries operate around the clock, 365 days a year, making relaxation increasingly difficult. The sleeping pods have greatly alleviated the problem, and some specific areas or businesses require them the most, apart from corporate offices.

Airports

Flight delays, early check-ins and missing flights are expected at the airports. Also, many travel for short periods for meetings to other destinations and spend their time at the airports rather than booking hotel rooms post their meetings.

Universities

Universities see students coming from different countries and states. Sometimes students travel from one university to another for exams, making them sacrifice their sleep. Nap pods help these students relax, preserve their energy, and improve their cognitive ability before attempting important exams and submitting projects.

Hospitals

Hospitals see more waiting people than anywhere else. Whether they are waiting for a doctor’s appointment or a relative taking treatment, hospital waiting rooms ooze off with waiting people day and night. Installation of sleeping pods at the hospitals may greatly help these tensed, worried and tired people.

Does having a sleeping pod in the workplace benefits employees?

Do sleep pods at work really succeed? Without a doubt, yeah! Coming from a culture of ‘hard labor,’ changing one’s mind about sleeping or relaxing at work requires some time. As well-known and successful firms such as Facebook, Cisco and Google adopted sleep pods at work, the efficiency of employees working there soared and even increased further. Many researchers have illustrated why sleeping at work is vital and how sleep pods boost it. Certainly, a quick nap in the office sleep pod is the genuine expression of a ‘power nap’. Rather than consuming more caffeine at the workplace, napping is way better for improving productivity and fewer health problems.

Major corporations have finally understood how sleep deprivation impacts efficiency and productivity, which is a question of corporate respect, and some employees even suffer from health problems as a result. When you think about it, the annual loss is considerably more significant than the expense of providing nap places or spaces for staff. By installing sleep pods, office may address concerns such as sickness absence, unproductivity, the likelihood of mistakes and mishaps, expensive medical expenditures, and economic damage. In other terms, sleep pods have become quite crucial in terms of enhancing professional outcomes.

Final thoughts

For decades, the prevalent misunderstanding about sleeping at work existed, indicating a poor view of employees. However, the value of sleep has steadily been recognized internationally in recent years. And the development of sleeping pods has proven to be a solution for both businesses and employees. Napping pods are the finest method to invest a company’s money in a way that will pay off in the long term.