August 21, 2007
Are you a closet...
... napper? Why must we feel ashamed? In fact, why shouldn't our employers provide us with nap rooms? Some actually do. Or maybe you can set up your own office to make it nappable. Back in my home office, in Wisconsin, I have a perfect sofa for napping. And it is not goofing off. A 20 minute nap is part of a formula for a very productive day. Why are people so Puritanical about naps? They want to see people looking busy. They can be barely conscious and get nothing done, but to surrender consciousness altogether... we're so afraid of that.
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I have a futon in my office. There is a door and lock, and shaded glass. So yeah, I take advantage of it when I need to. Here at the law firm, many people have sofas. I don't know if this is a good sign or a bad sign.
Lileks naps every day, or tries to. Even before he started blogging nearly continuously at buzz.mn, he was the among the most productive people I've encountered. I think he could easily be the poster guy for a campaign to rehabilitate the nap's reputation.
As for me: the 20-minute power nap is fantastic, but I have to time it right. If I do it too late in the day, I'm up till 2AM.
I'm totally out of the closet when it comes to napping. I don't have my own office--I share it with four other professors and we have a couch.
I have no problem taking a nap right there--with with professor-student conferences going on only a few feet away. And I snore to boot. Don't care.
I love sleep. I would buy a t-shirt that reads "I (heart) sleep." There's a small village in Maine called "The Land of Nod." It's my dream to move there one day.
I essentially have the same sleeping schedule as my dogs.
Didn't they publish some kind of study about sleep--saying that people that don't get enough sleep have shorter lifespans than people that do? By that standard, I should live forever.
My law firm experience would lead me to believe that a couch, like a toilet, provides for billable time.
I'll lay my head down at lunch, its something to be discreet about but I think it helps. Of course if I really wanted to "improve my brain" I'd go run a few miles.
C. Schweitzer said...
Didn't they publish some kind of study about sleep--saying that people that don't get enough sleep have shorter lifespans than people that do? By that standard, I should live forever.
You may live longer, but it will seem shorter.
I don't know, why do you feel ashamed? You also sound embarrassed and defensive. And don't blame the Puritans for your feelings, take some responsibility for your own emotional responses.
I normally don't like napping since it makes me feel groggy for several hours, but my job is so boring I can't help but fall asleep at my desk at least once a week. It usually happens about three in the afternoon, but yesterday it was at ten-thirty in the morning.
Hell No! I ain't no closet napper/
I naps in the stall of the crapper/
Keeps clothes in my closet,
Sometimes rockets/
Every suit's on fire,
When I decide to rock it/
Oh! Closet NAPPER...
Back in....well, a long time ago, I worked for what may yet the most paternalistic (that didn't used to be a deletable offense to sensibilities) company in the history of the world, TPT&TCo.
Every building that had one or more female employees (by definition either Operators, Supervisors, or Secretaries) had one or more "Quiet Roomc" sometimes accessible only via the Women's Restroom.
There are funny stories from the period between the beginning of "enlightment" and the removal of the quiet rooms.
What this country needs is a daily siesta. And I'm doing my best to fill that need.
If God didn't want us to doze off in the middle of the day, He wouldn't have created meetings.
Disheveled clothes, rumpled hair, dried drool in the corner of the mouth... Who needs a nap?
George Costanza perfected naps.
Are you a closet...
... napper?
Yes. I confess. I once stole a closet.
Ah, I extol the virtues of a good half-hour nap! It's the only way that mothers of young children get anything done...and the only reason small children have the energy to dismantle a house in no time flat! LOL My best memories with my children are the short time lying with them before we BOTH fell asleep at naptime. I don't think the importance of a midday rest can be stressed enough! :) It's effects are better than any energy drink or cup of coffee -- and way more healthy! Plus, that temporary escape from stress does wonders for one's state of mind, mental acuity, and attitude, ESPECIALLY when taken during breaks/lunch during work hours.
If your hair is rumpled enough...does that count as being nappy headed...just asking?
And if you don't do it on the couch, you might do it behind the wheel of the car, as I almost did the other day.
You could say I was a closet napper when I was in college, and I was for a short while in graduate school, but eventually I started being very open about my fondness for naps. My regular naps are so well-known that one friend once asked if I was part cat or something. Fortunately, my dog seems to like naps, too. Every day when I come home from work, we take naps in the living room--I lie on the futon and she lies on her bed off to the side.
I often nap during a long drive. Mostly I manage to pull off the road first.
Here at the law firm, many people have sofas. I don't know if this is a good sign or a bad sign.
Given the nature of the business, I take it as a good sign in that the company is honest enough to show that it intends to screw the client.
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