Go Ahead. Sleep on it.

What do Albert Einstein, Lady Gaga and George W. Bush have in common? Nope,not their fashion sense. The answer is …their naps. Each of these famouspeople is known for famously protecting their daytime dozing. Dozens of othernapping notables join their ranks. Lyndon Johnson conducted presidential meetings whileresting in his bed. Bill Clinton once nodded off during a Mets baseballand a memorial service for Martin Luther King Jr.

Why do we love our naps? Well, one reason is rooted in our biology. Manypeople’s inner clock slows between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., also known asthe “postprandial dip.” Many cultures actually honor this naturalenergy lull with the allowable afternoon siesta, when shops close andpeople doze.

Sometimes people catnap because they don’t sleep enough at night. Notall of us can be like Martha Stewart who typically sleeps just four hoursa day. For many of us, too-few-hours of nighttime shuteye virtually guaranteesthat we’ll take (or at least wish we could take) a catnap later in the day.

Body clocks and sleep deprivation aren’t the only reasons for takinga nap. Apple, Google and several other Fortune 500 businesses actuallyallow their staff to sleep on the job,taking naps to reboot their brains and bodies. They believe they reap the benefitsin employees’ increased productivity as well as overall morale boost.

The benefits of sleep are myriad, proving that the old saying “Yousnooze, you lose” couldn’t be farther from the truth. At leastnot according to scientists and researchers who say naps are good foryou in these and other ways:

• Improved thinking and problem solving
• Sharpened focus and alertness
• Increased memory
• Steadied emotional resiliency
• Cleansed brain toxins
• Reduced risk for heart disease
• Lowered obesity and improved weight loss

In fact, researchers at U.C. Berkley found that an hour nap significantlyincreases memory and learning ability. In another study at the Universityof Colorado-Boulder, kids who didn’t nap proved more cranky and anxious.There’s even proven research on theideal length for naps and what happens if you nap for too long.

Getting a good night’s rest on a regular basis is the best plan. Butwhether or not you get a full night’s sleep, a 10-15 minute rest duringthe day can leave you feeling recharged. So find a restful place to snoozeand turn down the lights. Pull out the fuzzy socks, the lavender eye maskand the ocean soundtrack and nod off.