Science is certainly on the side of nappers. William Dement, founder of Stanford University's Sleep Research Centre and perhaps the world's leading authority on sleep, argues that we have merely learned to limit our sleep to one period of the day, despite the overwhelming majority of mammals sleeping in short spells instead.
It's his belief that humans were designed to sleep in the middle of the day, primarily as a way to get them out of the midday sun, and that the very fact we still all tire in the afternoon, especially as we hit middle age, shows us that we're actually just fighting a natural instinct not to snooze, armed only with strong coffee and snacks. And yet the daytime nap is still frowned upon, especially in the workplace. In the United States in November there was a crackdown on federal employees who had taken to dozing at work, with the General Services Administration issuing a Federal Notice stipulating that no employee would be permitted to sleep in a government building "except when such activity is expressly authorised by an agency official". Good luck with that request.
Some companies are ahead of the curve. Google and Nasa have installed "EnergyPods" at some of their offices so staff can slope off and sleep. At Ben & Jerry's, meanwhile, they've introduced "Nap Rooms" for their staff, the only stipulations being that there's a 20-minute time limit and you have to remove your shoes when you use them.
Cynics might argue it's just a ruse to keep employees at work longer but it's certainly a step in the right direction.
The benefits of a power nap are myriad, and a short sleep during the day can not only improve your mood and alertness but can also increase creativity and productivity.
It goes beyond the workplace, too.
Not only are daytime nappers less likely to be involved in car accidents on the way home from work, but a recent study of 3500 adults in the journal Heart revealed that those who took at least two naps each week were 48per cent less likely than non-nappers to suffer serious cardiovascular problems.
Another study, in the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, found nappers had lower blood pressure than those who didn't hit the hay during the day.
But what is the optimum length of a daytime doze? Well, it's best to think in terms of a short, sharp snooze, not a full-on siesta.
And while Nasa reported that the responsiveness of its pilots and astronauts increased significantly after a 40-minute nap (presumably not mid-flight), the research journal Sleep concluded that even a 10-minute nap could result in considerable improvements in cognitive performance. Any longer than 30 minutes, however, and you're likely to suffer from sleep inertia, that is to say that groggy feeling you get when you come round from a deeper sleep.
I know the feeling. I might be an Olympic-standard napper now, but stealing a snooze is a skill I've had to learn, an art that needed to be mastered. My tips? You need to avoid the dangerous crick-in-the-neck threat of the armchair and you must always set an alarm. And never, repeat never, actually get under the bed covers or your entire day will disappear in dribble on the pillow. Follow these rules and you'll soon be napping with confidence, enjoying the sweet bliss of that "blessed oblivion".
