Jul 22, 2026 – 5.00amSurely the greatest contribution to the English – and, more importantly, to corporate – language comes courtesy of James Maas, the man who popularised the phrase “power nap”. Not even Shakespeare can boast such a life-changing contribution to our daily conversation. As someone prone to the odd bout of post-lunch torpor, I am indebted to the person who turned falling asleep at work into a corporate power move.Maas, a social psychologist at Cornell, used the term to describe a 20-minute light sleep designed to recharge the batteries. The short duration was key since the aim was to avoid falling into a deep sleep, from which you might wake up feeling worse.Financial TimesSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Fetching latest articles