Cat naps at work can help boost productivity, says new report

LONDON – British companies should help employees doze off by installing beds in the workplace in a bid to increase productivity, a study published in The Guardian daily showed.

While only 10 per cent of the 1,000 people surveyed said they came up with new ideas at their desk, more than 30 per cent said it was when they were drifting off to sleep that literally dreamed up their best ideas. “In our dreams we produce unusual combinations of ideas that can seem surreal, but every once in a while result in an amazingly creative solution to an important problem,” psychology professor Richard Wiseman said Monday.Short of installing beds, the report said employers should lay on food and drinks for staff and reorganise office layouts to include a designated creativity room for brainstorming sessions.The best way to tackle a problem, it said, was for employees to take regular breaks and revisit the issue with a fresh mind.The creative genius behind the Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, stayed in bed for two years at the height of his powers in the mid 1960s in what fans refer to as his “hibernation period”.- Nampa-AFP”In our dreams we produce unusual combinations of ideas that can seem surreal, but every once in a while result in an amazingly creative solution to an important problem,” psychology professor Richard Wiseman said Monday.Short of installing beds, the report said employers should lay on food and drinks for staff and reorganise office layouts to include a designated creativity room for brainstorming sessions.The best way to tackle a problem, it said, was for employees to take regular breaks and revisit the issue with a fresh mind.The creative genius behind the Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, stayed in bed for two years at the height of his powers in the mid 1960s in what fans refer to as his “hibernation period”.- Nampa-AFP