Tony Schwartz:
Too many of us continue to live by the durable myth that one less hour of sleep gives us one more hour of productivity. In reality, each hour less of sleep not only leaves us feeling more fatigued, but also takes a pernicious toll on our cognitive capacity. The more consecutive hours we are awake and the fewer we sleep at night, the less alert, focused and efficient we become, and the lower the quality of our work.
It seems to me, at least from what you see in popular culture that napping used to be more socially acceptable, but now it seems to have a pretty nasty stigma associated with it.
I’ve never been a napping type of person, but I am a big believer in getting enough sleep at night. I’ve started napping a bit here and there on the weekends since the kids nap, and it is quite refreshing.
What I like best about getting lots of sleep most nights is that on those odd occasions where getting lots of sleep isn’t possible — it feels like I can more easily “bounce back”.
Getting more sleep doesn’t mean you can’t stay up late, it just means you need to allot enough time for sleep.