Monday 15 December 2008

Caffeine vs naps

Apparently naps produce the best cognitive pickup for tiredness - better than caffeine or placebos. The silly thing, however, is that caffeine produces the highest self-perception of alertness. That is, someone who has had a coffee in the afternoon is more likely to say they feel awake and alert than someone who has had a nap, but they are likely to under-perform in cognitive tasks. Conversely, the napper would not assert that they are awake and alert, but would out-perform the caffeine recipient most of the time.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - It's hard to be empirical about how tired people are.
PPS - At least as far as I know.

6 comments:

Erin Marie said...

So I really should petition my work about having a bed installed under my desk for afternoon nap times.

And I should make submissions based on the fact that this would be more cost-effective than the $3,000 coffee machine.

John said...

If you're going to ask for a bed, you might as well make it somewhere more accessible and spacious than under your desk, but it's true that there may be tangible benefits over a coffee machine.

Erin Marie said...

My desk is pretty big. And it means that if I'm sleeping in here, no-one will see me unless they come all they way in and look under the desk.

John said...

That can be an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on who is looking for you.

Erin Marie said...

Always a disadvantage. If I'm sleeping, I don't want to be found

John said...

Then perhaps you should sleep somewhere you can't be found...