Open a newspaper, switch on the news etc and there will be more and more about the number of young people with great A levels who are unlikely to get to university.

Even naps as short as ten minutes have been shown to provide psychological benefits in terms of reduced fatigue and improved concentration. But would-be nappers face some strategic decisions, most obviously – does it matter whether I nap in my chair or ought I try to find somewhere to lie down? And then … if remaining seated, is it okay to lean forwards and rest my head on a desk?

When it comes to napping while leaning back in a chair or car seat, past research has shown that the further you can lean back, the better, at least in terms of subjective fatigue and reaction times. Now Dayong Zhao and colleagues have addressed the leaning forward issue, comparing lying-down napping and leaning-forward napping, and they’ve found that the former is the most effective, but that the leaning-forward variety still has clear benefits compared with no nap at all.

Thirty undergrads, all regular nappers, had electrodes attached to their heads before lunch. Then they performed an ‘oddball’ auditory task in which they had to listen to a string of tones and listen out for the occasional one of a different pitch. Next they had lunch before splitting into three groups: one group enjoyed a twenty minute nap lying down; another enjoyed a twenty-minute nap leaning forwards onto a desk (plus pillow for comfort); the final group just spent the same time sitting quietly.

After this, all the participants performed a repeat of the oddball task whilst having their brainwaves recorded via electroencephalography. Zhao’s team were particularly interested in the size and delay of the P300 – a brainwave measure of cognitive alertness.

Participants in both of the napping conditions showed benefits compared with their peers who’d been denied a nap. The nappers, leaning and lying, reported being in a better mood and feeling less sleepy and they performed better at the oddball task. When it came to the brainwave recordings, however, the leaning-forward nappers, unlike the lying-down nappers, showed no difference from the control group. Uniquely, the lying-down nappers showed an increased P300 amplitude, perhaps indicating increased cortical arousal on their part.

The message it seems is clear. A post-luncheon nap is beneficial to your mental functioning even if you’re forced to rest your head on your desk. However, if you can find somewhere to lie down properly, then do, because the benefits of the nap will be that much greater.

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Zhao, D., Zhang, Q., Fu, M., Tang, Y., & Zhao, Y. (2010). Effects of physical positions on sleep architectures and post-nap functions among habitual nappers. Biological Psychology, 83 (3), 207-213 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2009.12.008

Author weblink: http://gjc.swu.edu.cn/Eswu/

It’s an extrovert world.  This is hard for those of us who are more introverted by nature.

Extroversion and Introversion are two of the scales from the Myers Briggs Type indicator, these words are so well known that they are used in everyday life. Extroverts are people who are energized by other people and are seen as friendly and easy to get to know and people often know a lot about what they are thinking and feeling.  They tend to act first and think about it afterwards.  Introverts on the other hand get their energy from within and are often seen as reserved and harder to get to know. they are less likely to share thoughts and feelings and often take a long time thinking about what they are going to do and perhaps can miss out on something.

I’ve recently worked with a client who is quite introverted by nature but feels she should ‘act as an extrovert’.  Many of us that are introverted feel that we need to change our behaviour to fit in with more extroverted people but if we act out of type this can be quite stressful for us.

When I was young I was very shy and quiet, people used to say ‘Denise is deep’, I don’t think I was but if I couldn’t think of something relevant to say I’d rather say nothing.  Later I’d have some great thoughts, but it was too late by then.

That’s what often happens with Introverts – we don’t always think of an immediate response, and even if we do we can be a bit unsure if we should speak up or not. Sometimes we have chosen right, but most of the time we realise that we should have spoken, particularly when someone else says what we had thought of saying.

What I learnt to do was to think in advance what was likely to be discussed, even better if I got a well laid out agenda. Over time I also got a bit more assertive in making my comments, particularly as I developed an expertise in an area but I’d often introduce my view with a comment like

‘I’m not sure if this is exactly right, but I was thinking we  could …’

It also helps if you know about the topic, so sometimes it works best if you have some background knowledge, perhaps by being seen as an expert in a particular area.

It can also help if you let other people know how to get the best out of working with an introvert – I run team building events based on the MBTI and this helps as people understand what it is like to be themselves and also how they differ from other people and find out more about what it is like to not be you.

So as Introverts, when working with extroverts we can enhance the relationship by coming over as someone with a bit more energy and enthusiasm and be willing to speak up more. 

Extroverts  can help get the best out of us as introverts by letting us know in advance what will be discussed, and ideally sending out written material in advance for pre reading.  They can also allow us time to respond and ask questions to draw us out.  If we want to discuss things on a one to one basis to again give advance notice of what is to be discussed and to allow us time to come back with our considered reply.

Another area that we, as Introverts can struggle is at parties and networking events. I’ll cover this in part two of this article.

Can I help? Do you have a comment to make, either comment below or get in touch.

• Remove your standard contact details and replace them with a web based email address such as hotmail, yahoo, or Gmail.
• Change your current company name to a more generic company description.

Want to discuss – add your comments below or contact Denise Taylor, award winning career coach at www.amazingpeople.co.uk

I’ve just received a survey form and it is so very complex.

Why don’t people make responding to a survey simple? I think that sites like surveymonkey have made online surveys really easy to create, which can be good, but people still need to be aware of good survey design.

As a psychologist I used to always trial surveys to make sure the questions were reliable and valid as a measure, people understood what was required and that I’d be likely to get a good response rate..

The one I have just received has asked me to rank 8 items under one question; 6 under another, 5 under another and then another 6 choices against a final question. All of these decisions to make and can we really say there is a difference between items? 

It would be so much easier to rank my thoughts against a 1-5 scale – where I can say to what extent I agree, or disagree with something, but having to rank my answers is too complex.

It’s such a shame as there are some real benefits to be gained from the result of this survey, but if I don’t feel able to complete, I wonder what their response will be?

My Friend Andew sent me this photo today, most approrpriate given it is the Winter Solstice.

The white does trace out the shape that would be taken if you took a picture of the Sun at the same time each day. This shape is called an analemma

As it is the Winter Solstice, today the sun would be at the bottom. Andrew said that this analemma wasbuit up from 46 separate photos taken of the sun in 2003 in Athens.