Naps at work seem like something everyone would enjoy, and Japanese scientists have found that having a short nap during the day boosts brain power by about 10 percent.

This may seem like be being lazy, which may be partially true, but naps help people.

Naps help parents keep up with cranky, developing babies and help babies build up their brainpower while they learn every bad word you ever say by accident and discover what that shiny object is.

Naps help students, workers and children in the same way; refreshing the mind for the day ahead. However, experts say a 30-minute nap is the maximum before the napper faces complications.

Researchers say any longer than 30 minutes and the napper falls into a deeper sleep which will leave them feeling groggy instead of refreshed.

According to an article on www.biznik.com, the brain begins to decline between noon and 6 p.m., but claims a nap negates that decline.

Sleep study co-author Matthew Walker said it’s important to sleep both before and after learning in order to prepare the brain for laying down information. Walker said the best naps are when nappers reach REM sleep, or rapid eye movement.

Napping on the job is usually frowned upon in most of America. It’s wasteful of company time and it lowers productivity.

On the other hand, look at Japan, where the studies are taking place. They claim naps work.

The Japanese take naps to help out with 10-hour work days.

Some people say they have even stopped drinking the five or more cups of coffee per day they used to, due to these power naps.

This begs the question: What is worth more? A pot of coffee per person per day, or a half-hour break to lie down and relax, which gets the job done just as well.

Napping is better for you than coffee as well and napping doesn’t cause raised blood pressure.

Point being, a nap during work may seem like it’s not doing anybody any good, but for 30 short minutes, you can increase your worker’s productivity without putting them at risk for stress-related sickness and high blood pressure from caffeine.

All this research is based in Japan, where people routinely work for half of the day. If it can help them, it can help us.

To contact Robert Bolton, email onlinewriter@occc.edu.