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Recent studies show that an afternoon nap is good for us. I can vouch for that, as I nap every day around 2PM. That’s easy for me, since I have flexible work hours and my bed is maybe 20 feet from my office. Those of you in an office setting may have to make strategic plans to fit a catnap into your busy work schedule. You can find tips for power-napping, but most of these guides assume that a short nap is allowed in the workplace, which you and I know is rarely the case. Here are some ways to sneak a catnap surreptitiously.
1. Prop Your Head
This illustrated guide looks at the different ways we try to prop up our heads to appear to be working when we’re asleep. It doesn’t always work, and you may find yourself resorting to the George Costanza method of sleeping under your desk.
2. Open Your Eyes
Some of us have perfected the art of sleeping while sitting up. Too bad our closed eyes give us away, but that can be fixed as well with Sleep Safe Tape. The cellophane tape has eyes printed on it that you can peel off, apply to your eyelids, and appear awake while you snooze through a boring meeting.
3. Make Noise
Of course, even if the boss can’t see you, he or she may be listening to make sure some kind of work is being done. There’s an app for that! iNap@work is an iPhone app that plays work sounds while you sleep: typing, mouse clicking, throat clearing, paper shuffling, all the usual stuff that goes in in productive office environments. The mix and frequency of the sounds are adjustable, so your supervisor won’t notice the exact same sequence coming from every office where someone is napping.
4. Get Close to Your Laptop
This probably won’t fool anyone, but a Laptop Pillow would be so nice and soft just sitting there on your desk, beckoning you to lay your head down. As far as I can tell, this pillow was made for a Pepsi ad, and is not available to buy.
5. Read a Book
However, the Workaholic Pillow is available from Japan. It’s a pillow inside a book cover, which means even if you are caught, you’ll appear to have worked until sleep overcame you. The pillow is easily folded up and stored on a bookshelf. Of course, this would be easier to explain to your supervisor if you know how to read Japanese.
6. Wear a Disguise
Another great idea is shown in this Brazilian ad campaign for Suplicy Coffee. This one only works if your boss just takes a quick glance at you. And this method could present some stylistic challenges for women.
7. Treat Yourself
Mental_floss being the 21st century operation that it is, MY bosses understand the importance of a workday nap! If you are fortunate enough to work for a company that encourages naps, Metro Naps has office furniture that will make your power napping simple and pleasurable. Their Energy Pod is optimized to make the most out of the short time you can get away with napping at work. Lucky you!
Comments (26)
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The picture for Sleep Safe Tape is utterly frightening! I usually just sneak to the car on my lunchbreak for a nap.
posted by Heather on 3-2-2010 at 9:07 am
you are forgetting the all important “crap nap.” by using an upset stomach as your excuse, you can sit in the john for thirty to forty-five minutes. just have to learn to sleep sitting. or if it is a real clean joint with loose TP rolls, you can take the handicapped stall and put extra TP on the railing to lean your head on…
posted by theYerg on 3-2-2010 at 9:22 am
It’s the snoring that gives me away. That’s probably a good thing when I’m driving, though.
posted by Tom on 3-2-2010 at 9:25 am
i love that there is an app for that!
posted by pattypunker on 3-2-2010 at 9:50 am
“Laptop Pillow” – shouldn’t they call it Naptop?
posted by word on 3-2-2010 at 11:10 am
lol at “crap nap”, that TP roll never felt so nice.
posted by JK on 3-2-2010 at 11:14 am
I concur with the crap nap. As long as you dont have those pesky self appointed office monitors who have to comment on your desk absence, it works.
recaptcha: not downer
posted by AWS on 3-2-2010 at 12:49 pm
Awesome! I just got the iphone app :)
posted by Pattycakes on 3-2-2010 at 1:03 pm
Hehe. I have slept at every reception job I have ever held. I worked at a tattoo shop, and the sound of the tattoo machine would put me in a coma. Luckily I was able to wake up whenever it stopped, so I was never busted.
posted by S in Canada on 3-2-2010 at 1:10 pm
I once worked at a portrait studio on the third floor of a department store, needless to say business was really slow. I would put the bell on the counter, pull down a background, push the prop base behind it and layer it with blankets. I could nap forever!
posted by Fiora on 3-2-2010 at 2:00 pm
I think its about time that we demand nap time! We as a whole would be less crabby!
posted by hockey zombie on 3-2-2010 at 2:34 pm
I have “car napped” during lunch on more than one occasion. Park in the far corner of the parking lot, lean the seat back and cover your eyes. I love car napping…
posted by Stef on 3-2-2010 at 3:12 pm
You know, with soooooooooo many people sneaking in naps at work (myself included), you’d think sooner or later, it would become an accepted thing to bosses.
I mean, way back, 8 hour days weren’t always the norm, & neither were coffee breaks, 2 day weekends, etc. Times change, & I think this should change, too. :o)
posted by Jenny on 3-2-2010 at 3:13 pm
@theYerg – LOL! That “crapnap” is genius!
posted by Erin G on 3-2-2010 at 4:05 pm
You are all too funny. We should demand naptime; after all, the Italians have whole afternoons devoted to chilling out. When I visited Rome several years ago, I was astounded to discover that everything stops at lunchtime for several hours. Wow, they know what it’s about!
posted by Jen on 3-2-2010 at 5:17 pm
@ Jen
They do that in Mexico, too. One can walk through the streets around two in the afternoon and hear nothing but the clatter of knives and forks on dishes! All stores close for an hour or so. It’s enough time for a siesta.
posted by Maggi on 3-2-2010 at 7:28 pm
Back in college, I had a friend that would sleep in every class. The genius was how he would do it.
He would look down at his paper with his pencil in note-taking position. Then would somehow lock his neck in that position (I have to assume that this is a super-power) and he would go to sleep. Only the people on either side of him knew that he was snoozing rather than taking notes. No snoring, no drolling, no head-bob whiplash.
The most amazing thing was that he never startled back awake. If anything disturbed him, he would slowly look up, just like you would if you were fully away. We had at least one class together for 5 consecutive semesters and I never saw him stay awake for an entire class and he never once got busted.
It ticked me off twice over: Once because I could not do it. Again because I was stuck explaining what he slept through.
posted by n2y2 on 3-2-2010 at 7:47 pm
LOL the “crap nap” is hilarious, but I have a story about that sort of experience.
When I was in college I worked 3rd shift at Wal-Mart, and one night I had a customer walk up to me and tell me that he went into the men’s rooms, and someone was making loud noises in there… So, being the good employee that I am, I walk into the men’s room and I hear the noise too, so I knock on the stall door and ask if everything is OK in there… The noise stops and I they person responds that everything is fine… So, I walk out and start “stocking” aka standing as close to the bathroom area as possible without being obvious, and sure enough… another Wal-Mart employee walks out rubbing his sleepy eyes…
posted by Michael on 3-2-2010 at 9:27 pm
I always took quick cat naps while I was operating my forklift at work. I would align my lift and doze while I hit the lift button. When the forks got to their maximum height, it would wake me. Then I would pick up my load and back the lift away from the rack and then doze while the forks were coming down. One day, the HR manager “caught me”, but she didn’t say anything. Hours later, she caught up to me and said,”Gosh, it’s so impressive how you guys can do that, especially when the shelves are 35 feet up in the air.” I impressed her with my lift driving skillz and I was asleep nearly the whole time. :)
I DO NOT recommend taking naps with the cruise control on relying on the bumpie things on the side of the highway to wake you up. I woke up driving on the other side of the breakdown lane in the grass doing 80.
posted by Witt Sullivan on 3-3-2010 at 3:31 pm
I nap every day at lunch hour, I go to my car in our lot. Lock the doors and I cover up with a throw blanket I bought just for the occasion. I wanted to get one the same color as my seats so I would blend in better just so people wouldn’t hassle me and I wasn’t sure how the company would feel about it (for example think I was lazy or something). But sadly I couldn’t find a cheap one.
Sometimes I even cover my head with the blanket, I am sure if people do look in they think I am a freak but that’s cool by me as long as I don’t get fired.
Now you might be wondering how I wake up in time to make it back in an hour. I just do. My natural clock for some reason makes sure I am up. Only twice have I been late getting back in a year and a half here. Once by 20 minutes and once by around 10.
I do have an iPod touch with an alarm clock app I could use but my own body does just fine and that is kind of cool and freaky at the same time.
posted by Thorn on 3-3-2010 at 4:04 pm
I can’t stop looking at the Sleep Safe Tape..I think the eyes are following me.
posted by Alicia on 3-4-2010 at 2:31 am
In my opinion have a nap during the work day is the most stupid thing I have ever heard becouse you can’t think of sleeping all day!!!!!!
posted by francesca on 3-4-2010 at 3:39 am
After lunch around 130 I call forward my phone, turn down the computer speakers, close the door and turn off the lights to my office. There’s a gap between my desk and the wall/window. I lie on the carpet with a copy of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure under my head, which is the perfect height (I’m a lawyer). Kick off my shoes, three deep breaths and I’m out for 20 minutes and wake refreshed. Its great not being in a cubicle. Napping makes me very happy.
posted by Don Carney on 3-4-2010 at 8:22 pm
As for Tom and snoring, if your job isn’t a driving one, you can always put a box of tissue next to you, so everyone thinks you’ve got a sinus infection BAD. Be sure to wrinkle several tissues first, and leave them sprawled about.
posted by Josanne on 3-5-2010 at 9:12 am
At work, I always used to get really sleepy after lunch around 2pm. If I got 10 to 20 mins power nap I’d be fully rested for the rest of the working day, otherwise it was a 3 to 4 hour struggle against sleepiness until clocking off. Our work didn’t allow sleeping so I’d jam my thumbs into my eye sockets to make it look like I was rubbing my eyes and concentrating while actually I was avoiding my head nodding forward. With a 10 min nap I’d easily do 10 times more work than if I was fighting sleep. Power naps = much more productivity!
posted by alowe on 3-6-2010 at 12:03 pm
I admit that I work two jobs with a hour break in between, however I lack the skills to fall asleep that fast! The most tempting shift to fall asleep on is the 7am-11am shift on Saturdays at the newspaper. I’m only there for driver emergencies, and, after 10am for customer calls. It gets to be a very long 4 hours. Usually I take my car blanket inside, prop my jacket on teh corner of the desk for a pillow, pull over the nearest second chair for a foot stool and kick back. Downfall is neck pain though. Still trying to figure that one out.
posted by Serrinatta on 3-27-2010 at 7:44 am