>When I was in graduate school I'd regularly get stuck on some stupid thing I didn't understand and slamming my head against the paper/book/whatever didn't help

>When I was in graduate school I'd regularly get stuck on some stupid thing I didn't understand and slamming my head against the paper/book/whatever didn't help. Again, a quick nap and I was good (or at least better than I was). I remember doing this, too. I would often nap 2-3 times a day in crunch time and sleep less during the night, solving many problems. I think the problem as you say is the performative part of work, and napping really doesn't look good in that sense. Since COVID WFH I often also nap instead of eating lunch, which is a double power boost, since a big lunch can make you almost comatose.