After attending a five-day intensive meditation program with friends in 2018, Michael Kirban started meditating twice a day.
“I found it energizing,” Kirban, the cofounder and executive chairman of coconut water company Vita Coco, tells Fast Company. “I used to get that afternoon slump and reach for coffee, but the meditation really helped.” Kirban would step away from his desk and set a 20-minute timer. “Over time, I got so annoyed by the bell that would bring me out of [the meditation] that I just stopped setting it.”
But what started as a brief meditation practice daily morphed into what’s now an hour-long nap each afternoon.
Napping on the clock was once seen as strictly taboo. And the idea of CEOs or founders sneaking a catnap runs counter to the popular image of them as ambitious, deal-closing leaders—especially since so many have historically extolled the “virtues” of running on minimal sleep.
A chronic lack of sleep and mainlining caffeine to get through the workday is now so normalized in the U.S., it is practically a personality trait. In fact, chronobiologist Dr. Charles Czeisler coined the term “sleep machismo” in the Harvard Business Review in 2006 to describe those who are sleep-optional in the name of business success.
For Kirban, an afternoon nap is non-negotiable and a productivity hack. “When I’m irritated, tired, stressed, or anxious, a nap literally cures everything,” he said.
“It really changed my life.”
The importance of getting enough sleep has been documented time and time again across numerous studies. Research has even shown that taking short naps, as animals do, can boost productivity at work.
Kirban blocks out time in his schedule for a power nap each day. Around 4 p.m., he will relocate to the sofa in his office, put on an eye mask and play a specific meditation soundtrack with the chiming of bells to lull him to sleep. “As soon as I hear that music and put the mask on, I’m asleep.”
Kirban’s Manhattan office has glass walls, and the executive chairman has no shame around his employees catching him taking an afternoon snooze.
“I’ll wake up to messages like, “I was looking for you, saw you sleeping. Come find me when you’re up,”” Kirban said. “Everybody’s used to it. It’s just part of my day.”
Even with the idea of work-life balance constantly in flux, sleep is being rebranded as a leadership advantage in executive circles. “My main job as Executive Chairman is to motivate the organization and solve problems,” said Kirban.
Post-nap Kirban will jump straight back into work, energized and alert, with enough juice in the tank to continue into the evening. “If I’m dragging, like we all do at times, I don’t think I’d be as motivational.”
A nap isn’t a luxury reserved only for the C-suite at Vita Coco. Kirban actively encourages his employees to also nap in the office, although, he admits, he wishes they would take him up on the offer more. “I’ve talked to the team about putting nap pods in, because I think it’s so valuable.”
As Kirban knows, naps are good for business. A well-rested workforce reduces on-the-job errors, lowers absenteeism and ultimately healthcare costs. The rest of the world understands this well enough. In Spain, workers will often indulge in an afternoon siesta. In Italy, it’s called il pisolino.
“When I started working in Asia, I saw this firsthand,” said Kirban. “In China, after lunch they turn the lights off and it’s mandated nap time at your desk for 20 to 30 minutes.”
It couldn’t be further from the “996” schedule—which stands for 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week—gaining traction across the U.S. “I don’t want someone in the office 12 hours a day,” said Kirban. “When people love what they do, they get more done.”
What’s important, says Kirban, is finding what energizes you to get through the day, particularly at a time when burnout is already at an all-time high. That doesn’t have to be a doze at your desk. It could be an afternoon walk or a midday gym session to recharge.
“I have friends who are incredibly productive on four hours of sleep a night. It’s just not for me,” said Kirban. “I wake up from a 45-minute to one-hour nap and feel like I can conquer the world.”
“Have you ever seen the Bradley Cooper movie Limitless? I feel like that.”