A quick nap on the job

Sleep deprivation is an issue that is seldom dealt with seriously in India, despite its proven impact on one’s productivity. When work produces stress to an extent that employees lose sleep, napping pods can come to the rescue. In an international picture, only a handful of companies such as Google and Zappos incorporated nap pods for employees to rest and rejuvenate during the workday.

A Chennai-based doctor on Tuesday took to Twitter to emphasise on sleep deprivation of medical professionals and highlighted the need to introduce napping pods for resident doctors.

“Doctors, especially residents are among the most sleep deprived professionals. It’s high time we had some napping pods in hospitals, just to recharge the tired residents. Unfortunately in India, even a clean residents room is a luxury,” Dr Karthik, an endocrinologist, said in his tweet.

What are Napping pods

Speaking to The Patriot, Dr Karthik explained these pods as “small space for resting on a busy day”. “Napping pods are just small spaces for resting. Usually available in major international airports for a small fee like 60 to 80 dollar. One can go there, take a power nap for half an hour during busy day,” he said.

While these resting pods are available in international airports for fliers, no such facility exists for resident doctors. “Sleeping pods are also available in big multinational companies, but unfortunately not in medical colleges or hospitals. As you might have seen from the comments to that tweet, even basic things are lacking in many hospitals,” he said.

Nap pods are pieces of furniture that were created for people to rest in quiet, comfortable privacy. Mostly meant for employees to take a break from a busy environment, some of these napping pods are equipped with timers, speakers for calming music, and other details for more comfort and alertness.

Most nap pods follow one of two designs – on that resembles Japan’s capsule hotels and the other is ergonomic C-shaped.

The Japanese capsule-style napping pods have individual bed-sized compartments for nappers with usually a mattress and a pillow and allow people to lie down.

The second one, which is the ergonomic C-shaped napping pod, pairs a comfortable large dome that covers the head for darkness and privacy. While less like a traditional bed, these loungers have a zero-gravity design that is more comfortable to sleep in than a conventional recliner.

Sleep pods offer several features that helps employees take a quick nap during the workday.

Low-Light Environment: Many people struggle to fall asleep in bright lights, so nap pods provide a dark place suitable for sleeping with a dim environment.

Ergonomic Support: Aches and pains can occur in response to how you sleep, therefore, more often than not, sleeping at your desk or even on a couch leaves you with a sore back or an aching neck. However, nap pods are designed to support people while they sleep.

Timing: A 20-minute long nap increases alertness and improves mood without leaving people too groggy to work. Nap pods with timers offer a quiet wake-up without having to set an alarm that may disrupt colleagues. It uses both vibration and soft sounds to wake sleepers up.

Soothing Sounds: Although not all nap pods provide white noise or sleep music speakers, those that do can tap into white noise’s ability to help people fall asleep easier in noisy or busy environments.

India’s first smart napping pod

Founded by Jainam Mehta, ‘Urban Naps’ is India’s first smart sleeping pods that are mostly used in airports.

Equipped with zero gravity seat powered by NASA, ‘Urban Naps’ pods have ventilated seats, body massage, meditation music, oxygen therapy and are protected by NanoAgCide (antimicrobial Coating)

Airports, co-working spaces, corporates, hotels and resorts are its target audience.

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