I've made it clear at every job I've had since college that yes, I take naps. Almost every day. The post lunch, put your feet up, headphones on, 20 - 30 minute siesta does more good than coffee (and I LOVE coffee) ever could for clear, effective thinking later in the day.
I've found the folks that are most freaked out by it are those who (often for good reason) aren't confident in their work and place a very high value on looking busy as opposed to actually accomplishing things.
It's amazing how incredulous people get when I tell them my office has a sleeping room. Its really sad and unfortunate that something this natural has been demonized to such an extent.
I wish upon my own life that my office had a sleeping room. I'd gladly settle for sleeping on the floor in my cube from 1:30-2:00pm, but instead I stare ahead blankly from 1:30-4:00pm. Totally worth my company's time to make sure I'm awake.
If I heard somewhere had a sleeping room when interviewing, I'd be afraid that they were expecting me to stay so long that it was unsafe to drive home on a regular occasion.
Now, if it were just for midday naps, I'd love it.
The article explains it well.
My great-grandmother told me 30 years ago: a 25 minute nap in the afternoon is essential; over 45 minutes is not good. This old wisdom from a hard working farmer took how much scientific scrutiny to finally be called the "NASA nap"?
Don't listen to all your elders, but ones with true wisdom are pretty obvious.
Naps are the cure all for me in general. Need a little energy boost take a nap, have a headache take a nap, not feeling well cold coming take a nap. Most of my friends are amazed that I don't drink coffee.
I've found the folks that are most freaked out by it are those who (often for good reason) aren't confident in their work and place a very high value on looking busy as opposed to actually accomplishing things.