Five or so years ago I worked for the same company I work for now but in a different city, 40 miles or so away. It wasn’t a bad commute and I like the office well enough but when the opportunity came to transfer to this office with only an 8 mile commute I jumped at it.
But that other office had one little perk (which was my little secret until now) there was a storage area down by the back door in a part of the building that was not being used. The storage area was mine or belonged to my department which consisted of…me. It had a door that locked. The door had a window in it but when the lights in the storage room were off you couldn’t see in the window. (I checked, even with your face pressed up against the glass you couldn’t see in) No one else had any reason to be in that room but me.
I brought in a sleeping bag and a pillow and put those on top of a pile of old moving blankets and presto! Naptime for velvet.
I used to take advantage of that little room on my lunch hour many days after a late gig the night before. I didn’t abuse the priviledge and sleep on the job. I only slept on my lunch hour and always set my pager to buzz and wake me up when lunch hour was over. Then I’d try to sneak down the hall before anyone saw me and fix my hair and try not to look like I just woke up.
It was heaven!
And today I really need a nap and I’ve got nothing! No storage room. No office, nothing!
So I’m having coffee instead. Maybe it’ll make me less sleepy. I’m grateful tomorrow’s Saturday. If my cat wakes me up early he should be prepared to die.
Ugh, I need a nap too. It’s so gray and dreary outside and all I want to do is sleep. Or maybe just lie (lay? whatever, I’m lazy) in bed. I’m a firm believer that nap time is wasted on little kids. We should all have mats, blankets, and pillows under our desks that we pull out for an hour after lunch.
Yes indeed, lunchtime naps. I used to work in place where they had a lounge area filled with overstuffed chairs. It was usually filled at lunchtime with people taking naps. Good times.
I used to work in a place that had an actual nap room. Just for napping! I was in heaven. Unfortunately, it was very popular so you had to anticipate your nap needs and book ahead.
When I had a high-stress job in Hong Kong and was also burning the candle at both ends in my private life, I used to wait until my boss went for lunch, then crawl under the desk and catch 45 minutes’ Zs, until I saw her feet pass my desk, then slide up and pretend I’d been working my whole lunch hour.
Now I’ve got a high-stress job in London and am too old to party, and nor can I get to sleep during my 5-hour bus commute each day. Getting older sucks.
I’d suggest that a 5-hour bus commute sucks infinitely more!
Some enlightened companies are realizing that naps help employees be much more productive.
Me, I come home for lunch now so I have, on occasion, nodded off for a 12-minute power nap at home. When I was on jobs where I couldn’t do this and weariness overcame me, I’d either prop a bunch of papers in front of me and my head on my hand (unless you came and looked up at me from desk-level, you couldn’t see my eyes were closed) or head to the washroom and lean on one wall while seated for a quick catnap.
At a previous job I perfected the art of falling asleep upright at my desk, with my hands on the keyboard. I even once managed to do it with my eyes open. Ah, but for the time when one could just about get by on three hours’ sleep a night.
