Could an afternoon nap make you more productive?

It's three o'clock, the post-lunch malaise has begun to set in and
your eyelids are already beginning to droop. Do you a) dose yourself
with a double espresso or b) head to the office loo for a sneaky forty
winks?

Believe it or not, some organisations are warming to the idea that the
latter is the best option for getting the most out of employees.

Officials working for Seoul's metropolitan government have been given
carte blanche by bosses to take an hour's nap in the afternoon to
boost productivity in the summer heat.

Government staff in South Korea's capital can take an hour's siesta
between one and six in the afternoon, as long as they arrange it with
their bosses in the morning and make up the hours before they go home.

"Employees can use lounges, conference rooms and other places to
rest," a spokesman told the Korean Times.

But don't assume the South Koreans are lazy. Employees in the country
currently put in some of the longest hours in the world, according to
the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, working an
average 2,092 hours in 2012.

On average, Seoul's government officials work 11 hour days. Yet
despite the long hours, according to the OECD's figures, South Korea's
staff are much less productive than other member states of the OECD,
with labour productivity 66per cent of the OECD average and half that
of workers in the US.

So should more companies be encouraging employees to sleep on the job?

The likes of Google and AOL already allow staff to take afternoon
naps, with Google's Silicon Valley headquarters featuring
purpose-built sleep pods for employees - no doubt a more comfortable
option than sleeping under your desk.