Performing better in office: here's the secret.

I know, you know, we all know that not everyone can be like Elon Musk, not everyone can manage multi-million dollar companies because it brings stress and it requires pills to sleep, pills to wake up, pills for everything.. so, is it right to push yourself so much?

Now, take popcorn and your favourite soda, because I’m going to tell you the story of my secret.

When I feel drained during office time, I cut 20min of my lunch break, I set the alarm, I play my favourite piano songs from Ludovico Einaudi, and I close my eyes.

Call it a power nap, a meditation, a rest… but it works! And 20min it’s the perfect timing because after this amount of time your brain falls asleep.

Why it’s a smart move?

Because it’s when your brain rests that it recharges, the neurons revitalise, the data sets into memory, and all the blood fuels smoothly.

When you fall asleep -so usually after 20 minutes- your brain disconnects, and you are not conscious anymore about what happens around you. That’s why a power nap should never take longer than 20min.

I’m Italian and -as a stereotype- I love coffee, I enjoy a warm cup of good espresso from a Bialetti moca, but I can’t have more than three coffee per day, if I do it then my hand starts shaking. By the time, I learned that my brain works more efficiently when I have breaks rather than stressing myself with over-time, over-working, over-stressing, while slapping my face with cold water, having multiple coffee and tea, etc.. no, sometimes a good break it’s all I need.

Yeah, I also have those super stressful days when I don’t stop running around for meetings and chats and reviews, not even for a minute; so, during those days, even just 10min is enough.

And, sometimes, that’s when I have the best ideas or when everything seems more clear to me. We often struggle for coming up with complex concepts because we expect the solution from our brain in a snap of fingers; while a good dose of stop-thinking can start a different mechanism in our mind, and then, click! That’s your idea!

When I was co-designing the office where I’m working now (the office of Indeed-Innovation Gmbh in Hamburg), we decided to dedicate a tiny space to this activity, and now we have a cosy room with fluffy bed and pillows, suitable for informal meetings, phone calls and -especially- for power naps!

But if you don’t have one, no worries, back in the days when I was working in China, all of my colleagues were simply crashing on their desks with funny eyes-cover.

So, don’t forget to recharge your batteries, ten minutes at any time during the day, and then back on the track!