{"id":6125,"date":"2014-02-05T12:10:20","date_gmt":"2014-02-05T17:10:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alifeofproductivity.com\/?p=6125"},"modified":"2021-12-03T21:22:05","modified_gmt":"2021-12-03T21:22:05","slug":"productivity-experiment-take-three-hour-afternoon-siesta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/productivity-experiment-take-three-hour-afternoon-siesta\/","title":{"rendered":"Productivity Experiment: Should you take a three-hour afternoon siesta?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Takeaway:<\/b> Even though three-hour long siestas are incompatible with Western(ized) work cultures, the components that comprise a traditional Spanish siesta\u2013taking a break, napping, eating well, spending time with loved ones, and disconnecting from your work\u2013are all very beneficial for your productivity. A three-hour break in the middle of your work day won’t give you much of a productivity boost, but incorporating the individual components of a siesta into your schedule will.<\/p>\n

Estimated Reading Time:<\/strong> 12 minutes, 33s. It’s skimmable, though.<\/div><\/div>\n

\"Man<\/strong><\/p>\n

It used to be that if you took a walk through a Spanish village mid-afternoon at say, 2pm, you’d notice something peculiar: most shops, offices, banks, and other businesses that you walked by would be closed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The reason for this is interesting: every afternoon, from about 1pm to 4-5pm, most Spanish businesses closed their doors so their staff could take a long break and a short nap during the day\u2019s hottest hours. That break is called a siesta<\/i>. To this day, the tradition lives on in many parts of the country.<\/p>\n

The Experiment<\/b><\/h2>\n

I often write about the importance of taking breaks on AYOP, so I wanted to put this tradition to the test. Is it worth taking a few hours off in the afternoon to nap, spend time with loved ones, and recharge before heading back to work in the evening? Will taking an afternoon siesta impact your productivity in any meaningful way?<\/p>\n

\"siestatime.001\"<\/p>\n

For the past three weeks I\u2019ve worked on “Spanish time”; working from 8am to 8pm, with a three-hour siesta break from 1pm-4pm. All through the experiment I was mindful of how taking a siesta affected my productivity, watching as my energy levels, focus, and motivation all fluctuated around the ritual over the course of the three weeks.<\/p>\n

While integrating a three-hour siesta into your schedule is not practical for most people, I did learn a ton about productivity from this experiment, like the importance of sleep, taking breaks, de-stressing, and more.<\/p>\n

Here are the top 10 lessons I\u2019ve learned while adopting this ritual for three weeks.<\/p>\n

10. Three-hour long siestas are simply incompatible with Western(ized) cultures<\/b><\/h2>\n

You probably saw this one coming. Nearly every business operates on a 9-5 schedule in Canada (where I live), so\u00a0taking an afternoon siesta is simply not compatible with 9-5 work\u00a0<\/strong>cultures<\/b>. I have the very rare luxury of being able to conduct this experiment because of the flexibility I have with AYOP, but pretty much everyone else doesn\u2019t.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Siestas can be fantastic for your productivity, mostly because the activities that make up a siesta\u2013like napping, spending time with loved ones, eating healthy food, and taking a break from your work\u2013are energizing, and they let you recharge your batteries so you can be more productive for the rest of the day. But even though every single element that comprises a traditional siesta will boost your productivity, the format of a three-hour siesta is simply incompatable with Western(ized) cultures.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe church of Huidobro in Spain. Source<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

9. Take a nap for a quick productivity boost when your energy dips<\/b><\/h2>\n

All day long your energy levels fluctuate around what you eat, how hard you push yourself, how many breaks you take, and a lot more. That\u2019s why a siesta traditionally includes a short nap; after many folks in countries like Spain, Italy, and the Philippines eat a large lunch with their family, they take a nap because their energy levels crash after the meal.<\/p>\n

Similarly, I integrated an afternoon nap into my routine during my siesta with quite a bit of success.<\/p>\n

According to studies, napping improves your memory, makes you more attentive and alert, helps prevent burnout, and boosts your creativity and ultimately your productivity.<\/strong> In fact, a \u201cstudy at NASA on sleepy military pilots and astronauts found that a 40-minute nap improved performance by 34% and alertness 100%\u201d!2<\/a><\/sup> I\u2019ve experienced all of these effects first-hand during my siesta breaks.<\/p>\n

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I highly recommend that you nap when your energy levels dip, if you can<\/b>. If there is a time of day when you find your energy starts to drag, you should nap then if you\u2019re able to (10-20 minute naps have been shown to make you the most productive). If you can\u2019t nap when your energy dips, take a break. If you can\u2019t take a break, work on less important activities instead of ones that require more energy and focus.<\/div><\/div>\n

8. Constantly ask yourself how much energy you have, and act accordingly<\/b><\/h2>\n

When you constantly ask yourself how much energy you have throughout the day, you can begin to make adjustments to either recharge when you\u2019re low on energy, or take on bigger, badder tasks when you have a lot of energy.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll even start to notice trends after a while, like that your energy levels spike at 10am after your morning coffee, or that your energy levels crash at 1:30pm after you eat a big lunch. (You can go so far as to chart your energy levels<\/a><\/span> over a typical day if you want to, but I think being mindful of your energy levels throughout the day works almost as well, provided you ask yourself frequently enough.)<\/p>\n

As soon as you notice when you naturally have more or less energy, you can take steps to use that information to become more productive. For example, schedule your highest-leverage activities<\/a><\/span> when you have the most energy, or nap, take a break, drink tea or coffee, or otherwise recharge your batteries when your energy levels dip.<\/p>\n

\"converse-fields\"<\/p>\n

7. Schedule time where you completely disconnect from your work<\/b><\/h2>\n

The element of this experiment I was the most resistant to was completely disconnecting from my work for three hours every day. When I take a break from my work, I usually don\u2019t completely disconnect from my never-ending firehose of tweets, emails, texts, and other updates. After all, I don\u2019t mind being interrupted with interesting messages while I focus on other things.<\/p>\n

But when I did<\/i> disconnect, I felt a mental switch flip in my head, and began to look at my work from a whole new perspective.<\/p>\n

When you disconnect from your work and your attention is no longer pulled in a thousand directions, you continue to think about your work, but in a different way\u2013your mind continues to process your work, but in the background while you do other things<\/strong>.\u00a0There were times in the experiment when I was genuinely surprised at the ideas and solutions my mind came up with after I disconnected. (One example: my productivity experiment ideas<\/a><\/span> to work 90-hour weeks, and drink only water for a month.)<\/p>\n

\"507780_61269519\"<\/p>\n

I think you should make time to completely disconnect from your work for at least one hour every day.<\/strong> The never-ending firehose of tweets, emails, and everything else is entertaining, but it\u2019s designed to suck you in, hijack your attention, and waste your time. Disconnecting from your work will make you more productive at the end of the day.<\/p>\n

6. Take more breaks<\/b><\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve written about the benefits of taking breaks quite a bit on AYOP, and for good reason: taking more breaks can make you insanely productive<\/a><\/span>. When you take the time to take breaks, even though you\u2019re not actually getting stuff done while you’re on break, you give your brain precious time to recharge, subconsciously reflect on your work, and consciously see your work from an elevated perspective. Breaks also boost your creativity, focus, and motivation.<\/p>\n

A three-hour break in the afternoon is definitely overkill (as I\u2019ll talk about in #4) because it is simply too long, and if you\u2019re anything like me you\u2019ll lose most of your motivation to be productive during that time. But if you\u2019re looking to squeeze more productivity out of your day, take more breaks.<\/p>\n

It sounds like counterintuitive advice on the surface, but taking more frequent breaks is one of the best ways I’ve found to become more productive.<\/p>\n

Interlude: My 10 favorite productivity experiments from my year of productivity<\/b><\/h2>\n

10 of my favorite experiments<\/a><\/span> from my year of productivity, in no particular order. Just click on any picture to visit the experiment’s article.<\/p>\n

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