The Brian Lehrer Show

I need to nap every day at work. I used to skip lunch and breakfast every day because I know that I WILL fall asleep after consuming a meal. My body reacts to the food by slowing down my mental functions and forcing me to rest while it takes care of initiating that digestion, and as a result, I can't keep my eyes open! I like to eat, so I've tried to work lunch back into my work day, and simply added in a 10-15 minute break for a nap in the bathroom--no joke! I've seen the ladies clean in there, and i've seen the other clean ladies in my office building, so I don't really worry about this setting being too gross. If there were anywhere else to do it, I would--suggestions welcome! I say we work a siesta into the American culture; no matter how valuable a good diet, exercise and a full nights sleep can be, the reality is that our bodies need a chance to catch a breath and rest throughout the day.

I'd love to take a nap at work. sometimes I fall asleep at work.

It would be much better to have permission to rest in the afternoon.

The AMerican worker is beaten and taken advantge of as well as taxed to death.

A nap would increase productivity.

I hope I'm not violating your request. I wish I could take a nap. Since I don't believe I can without repercussion at work, I tend to take my lunch to Riverside Park, eat, and then spend about 10 minutes meditating.

It helps, but I'd really rather have the nap.

Hi Brian,

It's funny you talked about "how people sneak in naps" in their lives. Actually when I was back in India (10 yrs ago), we (the whole family) used to nap every day from 2-4pm but now in US, after working so many years (and 2 kids - 7 & 5), I almost feel guilty of napping. When my inlaws take my kids with them (somewhere on weekend), I get a chance to nap but I feel guilty becasue there is so much I can get done instead of napping. It's on my mind that I have a chance to nap so may be I should take advantage of it but I just can't because of that guilt feeling.

Contraty to me, my husband takes long naps on weekend even if kids are home. For me, I fell like my mind is always working.

Thanks,

like george costanza under the desk!

The idea from that one Seinfeld episode should work really well, esp. for people with desk jobs. Employers can build a napping space underneath workers' desks and then only allow their employees to take a nap up to 20 min a day.

When I start nodding off at work, sometimes I have no choice but to sneak off to the restroom for a good 10-15 minutes and temporarily turn a bathroom stall into a nap-pod of my own.

how much does this napping store charge? metronaps has no prices.

I just put my feet up on the desk, head back, and out I go. If they don't like it, to Hell with`em!

I was recently laid off and have been napping every day as I conduct my job search from my computer. In fact, it has turned into more a siesta.

Well, if y'all weren't out all hours of the night drinking and screwin' around and stayed home and ate properly and went to bed at a decent hour and got 8 solid hours, you wouldn't need to take a nap at work. That's that.

Following is my nap strategy:

1) We are given an hour lunch break at my work place. I sneak into empty guest room with a couch and I take a 40 minutes nap, if I am not at gym.

2) I take local train instead of express so that I can find a seat and take a quick nap.

-Chetan.

we have a breast-pump room at work for new mothers. I go in there and nap.

I can't nap at work because I am only a peon and work at a cublicle, (plus I have too much trouble falling asleep - it would never work for me) but one of the managers in my department has an office with a small couch and every day she closes her door and naps on the couch. We all know to avoid her for that 20 or 30 minutes. Genius!

For the refreshment and rejuvination that a nap provides, I think corporations should feel great about "paying" someone to nap. The alternative is zoning out by playing solitare or reading the Onion for an hour online. How productive is that?

We had a guy who built himself a nest out of bubble wrap. It was up in the warehouse racking hidden behind some pallets. He used to disappear for three hours at a time.

Sometimes when I really need a bit of sleep in the middle of the day, I have to sneak into the restroom and sit in one of the stalls for a nap. They way my office is situated everyone that walks by has a clear view of my desk and I also share my office with a co-worker so that's my only alternative. I never feel guilty about it since, as most of us are, I'm underpaid.

I nap in the bathroom at the office. I work 10 hour days so I end up crashing between 1:30-2:30. I set my cell phone alarm for 6 minutes on vibrate.

I work in an extremely corporate atmosphere where a nap just would not be acceptable. There have been a few times when I have felt that I absolutely required a mid-day nap. The dynamics of my job don't require me to be at my desk all the time and it's not unusual that I'm away from my desk for enough time for a nap. However, I can't go to one of those "nap centers". So, what I have done is gone into the bathroom and sat in a stall for about 10 minutes to rest my eyes. It's not anywhere close to my ideal napping spot and it's a little gross, but there's sometimes when it's been required.

Well, I'm an artist and work at home, so I usually take a nap just after lunch at around 1:30pm. Since I get up and try to start working at around 6:30 or 7am, I dont feel that guilty about taking a 45 minute nap. When I worked in the corporate world, I used to dream about naping, but could only do it on weekends and holidays. My wife does not share this need for naps and infact cannot ever take on. I feel cranky without one; refreshed and ready for the second part of my day after one.

Naps??? Can't function without one... I work in Lake Success. I take 20-30 minute naps in my car daily. Not highly recommended in winter, though, unless you have heated seats, which drain a considerable amount of battery power. (I've asked for a jump start several times).

I like to nap on my commute to the city. That's why EZ Pass is so cool. Just glide on through without having to wake up. Unless my cell phone rings, or I spill coffee on myself. Congestion Pricing won't effect me at all, as I'll be asleep at the wheel.

Kelly

When I'm up, I'm up. I have a longish bus ride from NJ to NYC - it's dark and sometimes I fall asleep for few minutes. But rather than feeling refreshed, I feel disoriented and out of sorts. I would never want to lie down and nap in the middle of the day!

I remember the days in Italy when everyone closed for two to three hours for the midday dinner and a nap before returning to work. Those days have ended. I have yet to find any businesses closed from 1-4 anymore in any of the larger cities or even some of the smaller ones. It's sad but good for the tourists, I guess.

I'm a free lance director and I teach at NYU.

I work at home and I take a nap almost every day

after I walk my two dogs in the afternoon with my

dogs at my side. It's the most productive part of my day..

I find that on the days when I nap I get more work done in less time

and more creative work at that.

Re-creation is after all about re-creating yourself

and napping is recreation.

I love NPR but like many of its segments, this story presumes that we live in a white collar world where everyone is sitting at a desk all day. How would today's guests address physcial intensive labor and how to sneak much needed rest for "the other" employees in the city?

When I was pregnant, I used to hit the couch in the office ladies' room for a half-hour twice a day, usually 10AM and 3PM. I couldn't function unless I had a nap. I had a very understanding boss who didn't care because the work got done; he even offered his office if he was out on appointments or anything. A real prince.

I work from home now, and don't really nap that much, but I listen to my body and some days I really need to put my head down so I do. Nap, revive, go back to work with a clear head.

Last, I take naps with my kids on weekends. Especially during the winter. Usually after lunch, we get into my bed together, read a little bit and then fall asleep. I love it.

When I worked at large companies with health centers I would call the nurse and ask if one of the beds was available. I'd go out at lunch time and ask the nurse to wake me up after 20 minutes.

Turn off the TV. The best "nap-strategy" is to so structure your life that you ensure that you get a full night of restful sleep of at least 7 to 9 hours (however many you may need) EVERY night. Then you won't need to think about naps during the day!!

Close the door to my office, roll out my yoga mat (kept hidden behind books on a shelf), and meditate for 15 minutes. Worked for 10 months as a teacher in an "open corridor" class room (Calhoun School) during the 1980s -- no privacy, no naps -- nearly lost my mind.

Yes! The head-leaning-on-hand-disguised nap!! I do that all the time. Just make sure your elbow is secure and away from the edge of the desk, otherwise you risk breaking your jaw....

I have many times in the past gone to a park on my lunchbreak and crashed on a park bench, setting an alarm to make sure I got back in time. Now I'm a stay-at-home mom, so I nap when my son does! (though not every day, unfortunately)

I used to work in an office where there was a window with a large windowsill in a single-person bathroom. I locked myself in the bathroom after lunch for about twenty minutes and napped on the sill in the sunshine.

Thinking about this topic is making me really sleepy.

I work from home, so napping is a possibility...but I find I nap best sitting up in a comfortable easy chair....If I actually lie down in bed it takes longer to fall asleep and when I finally do...I wake up groggy.

But a short 15 minute nap in the chair...it most refreshing.

I nap each and every day, regardless of circumstances. I have a nap-room within my office and when I am alone at work, the front door gets locked and a placard extolling the virtues of napping in hung for customers to read.

My naps will last anywhere from one minimum hours to two and a half. Employees know NOT to interrupt during nap time, occuring anytime between 1:00 and 4:30 pm. A 5-minute power-nap is anything but, less than an hour and I'm in a mood for the remainder of the day.

My wife is good enough to cover for me, and I try to time my naps with my 19-month old son.

My colleague and I have pulled "George Costanza's" by putting yoga mats under our desks and catching 15 minutes. It's heaven... George was on to something!

What stops employers from looking at these ideas and will look to stop this on the job?

One fellow in our office holds the phone to his ear while sitting upright in his chair a doses off

Another just sits upright with his hands on the keyboard of his computer

I don't nap, I meditate - so that's my recommendation, because it's considerably easier to find places to do it when not at home. [Also, TM at least is purported to provide deeper rest than sleep.] I'm all for either one - I think that period of rest is invaluable and the world would be a more peaceful place if everyone did it. Like kids, we get "fractious," but we don't acknowledge it.

Meditation strategies are easier simply because you don't have to lie down. Of course, if you can nap sitting up, it's not a problem, so the following strategies might work for either. I actually obtained official permission to meditate at NYPL's SIBL, after being told by a security guard that "sleeping wasn't allowed." I'm fortunate to work from home now, but when I worked at offices, I would, as you just said, find a quiet room or corner and do it during the first half of my lunch hour. I get some funny looks or comments occasionally, but not too much, esp. if people ask me what I'm doing and I tell them. The Open Center has a meditation room open to all. The American wing at the Met. Museum is pretty nice too. If I have to, I do it on the subway or a bus. Parks are good when the weather is warm, of course. Often, I hold a book or magazine on my lap so that folks think I'm just taking a break from reading.

Japanese commuters have invented all sorts of napping strategies, and straphanging-napping is just one of them. The other is the uncanny ability to wake up just as the train is pulling into your station.

when i worked at nordstroms, i would go to the bathroom and just sit on the toilet and get a 20 minute nap

what!? standing for 8 hours in uncomfortable shoes is PAINFUL!

On the Wire on HBO, the police officers in the Homicide Dept. would cut the tie just below the knot of any officers that fell asleep at their desk. They'd then parade the sacrificed "nap tie" over to a cork board to add to the "nap tie" collection.

My father was an apprentice in a carpenter's workshop in the 50s. Coffins were a large part of their business. My father would regularly sneak off to the upstairs showroom and take a nap in a coffin.

JFK took a nap every day with Jackie....

I found out recently that G.W. Bush while he was governor had both nap time and solitaire time built in to his schedule.

I ride the train everyday at lunch time, to Coney Island, nap on the train & have a hot dog at Nathans.

Sometimes I've been so tired or lulled by the atmosphere of a dark, warm room with soothing music that I've fallen asleep while still performing my job as a massage therapist.

i need a nap now.

In China, most people nap after lunch. People just put their heads on arms folded on top of their desk for 20 minutes.

Don't forget the Disco Nap!!!

Long day, you know you're going out later, so you got to nap before you go out for a night. This seems cooler, somehow, than a nap without a funny nickname.

The "preparatory nap" or "pre-emptive nap" is what club-goers call the "disco nap." You can't be too pooped to party!

Check out this sweet nap-pod at Google. This things need to become a staple for every office.

http://www.reuters.com/resources/pictures/galleries/Stories/633404218615156250/Previews/04_mdf1420733.JPG

I eat a full breakfast in the morning, delay my lunch until 1:00 or 1:30 and feel this has helped me stay awake and alert all day. If I still need a nap, I take a short break and go outside for a walk.

When I worked at Ford it was quite a liberal place and napping would not be "punished". Most folks ran to the auditorium and nurse's office to nap. But that was 20 years ago.

I work in a hospital and medical school. In the medical library there are reclining chairs that resemble the ones you see in airline business class ads. I've napped there, and seen many fellow nappers-- medical students, nurses, doctors in their scrubs.

I used to work at the main branch of the NY Public Library (5th Ave. and 42nd St.). They built a "quiet room" for staff connected to the lounge. It had soft, womb-like chairs and a strict silence policy. It was FANTASTIC for a lunch-time nap. I miss it terribly!

familia with Polyphasis sleep?

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/10/polyphasic-sleep/

3 hours in the bubblewrap is not creative napping, it's slacking. Your guests should call him on it; nap abuse is why employers don't take naps seriously.

It's unbelievable - people are just accepting that being sleep-deprived is simply to be accepted as something imposed upon them by modern life or whatever, and so some kind of nap-strategy is called for. Make better life choices. Take RESPONSIBILITY for your life. Get more sleep at night. Eat better. Exercise. Learn how to live wisely.

I used to nap all the time when I was a stage manager. You wouldn't beleive the places people can nap inside a theatre. I once fell dead asleep in a cat walk, and woke up to find a show starting on the stage below me. There's nothing like a stage light in your face to wake you up. I quietly snuck off the catwalk and slipped out of the theatre.

Now that I work in cubicle world, no naps. I'm lucky if I get a lunch break....although thanks to this segment, I'm eyeing my yoga mat and the under desk areas....

My father was a ship's captain. I sailed with him

from time to time. When the weather was bad (e.g. thick fog in heavily traffic) he would stay on the bridge until the situation resolved. One morning I came up to the bridge and found him standing, holding on to the rail, fast asleep. His first mate assured me that he could nap like this, even in heavy seas.

I nap in my stylist's chair when she is highlighting my hair. It can be a long process.... too much guilt otherwise to say I am napping. Tsk tsk

James what if you're up half the night with a newborn baby or sick child? What if your life doesn't leave time for exercise? Some people need a nap strategy because circumstances call for it. Get off your high horse already.

While I was pregnant and working for a large cosmetics corporation (Limited Brands) I was incredibly fatigued and could hardly keep my eyes open for the first 6 months. I would walk to a nearby spa, Haven, to get pedicures and snooze in the pedicure chair. Obviously, this got expensive fast ($38 bucks a pop) but was worth keeping my large salary. Napping, even while pregnant, was never an option. In major European cities (Milan, Geneva, Paris) the lunch closing still allows for a siesta.

Heard this joke that also works: the secretary walks into the pastor's office and the pastor, who's had his/her head on the desk napping, sits up straight and says, "Amen."

What works even better is to institute a meditation group, something like the Transcendental Meditation technique known in church circles as Centering Prayer. I've had a whole group basically napping sitting up for 20 minutes. No guilt and the gentle focus on a mantra or word really helps to make it happen!

Can anyone help convince the police that napping is OK? I try on the benches in front of the lincoln center - I have auto-immune illness and live in Brooklyn, so when I have a day in the city I get exhausted.

but the police always come and get me. I can't get comfortable any way but laying down, so I've developed a strategy of looking like I'm doing yoga - if I make it look like a stretch and move when i sense i'm being watched I can at leat reast my back. but I need 20 minutes of being undisturbed!

I work in the libraries at Columbia...and they are very popular nap spots. From around 11am to 3PM everyday, there's someone napping on the couch outside my office. When I need a lunch time snooze, however, I think it's a bit tacky to be visibly sleeping in the library where I work. Not to mention, the patrons and my staff would probably not hesitate to wake me up to ask something from me...so I wander to another library on campus.

The guest is ALL wrong. Totally. If u are sleepy during the day so that u need to consider 'naps', u'r task is NOT to figure out how to work naps into u'r life, u'r task is to figure out why u'r sleepy during the day & how to adjust u'r nighttime sleep habits to stop being sleepy during the day. It's like being obese & trying to figure out how to avoid the downsides of being obese without considering how to not be obese.

I use to nap at my first job almost every day. Not only did I sit at a cubicle, but I was working at a well-respected major Wall street bank. I would hide under my desk, on the floor, and pull the chair in tight, so no one could see me. Worked very well. Much better than when I sat at my desk. I think I got caught a few times while doing that one.

The problem with this job was I had to be in at 7am (too early for me), and it bored me to no end.

After leaving for a different better career, about ten years ago, I've worked much harder, but haven't taken a nap since.

i am about the dreaded toilet nap. it is grimy and uncomfortable even in the fancy building i work in but when that 4 o'clock lull hits i must give in.

listening to a program about naps does it for me.

I am an RN at a large NYC hospital. While 9 months pregnant and working 12.5 hour shifts, I was woken on my UNPAID lunch break by my nurse manager. She said that the hospital had implemented a automatic termination of employees caught napping, even on their lunch break. That was my 1 time warming. Although I still work there, I don't think I'll ever forgive her for her cruelty!

Whoops, meant to say "Polyphasic" sleeping. The science says that you only need 20-30 minutes sleep every four hours and six times a day to remain productive. pretty cool stuff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphasic_sleep

I once took an afternoon nap, and woke up sleepier than before the nap. I've never tried to nap again.

for those that say we need to nap because we're too busy screwing around and making bad life choices, i say get over yourself, we're not all fortunate enough to have interesting day jobs and a quiet home life, we are stressed and frustrated and could benefit from any peaceful alone time to rest the mind and body. I would absolutely take a 20 minute nap at work if it was socially acceptable, even if it meant just resting my head on my desk in my cubicle where anyone walking by could see me.

#74--you need to get the nurses' union in your hospital. My wife is also a nurse, at a hospital in The Bx, and a break--with naps--is part of the contract.

Ever since I went to France and Italy for the first time (in the "last century"), I have admired and emulated (when not at work) the civilized life style over there. It permitted, in fact, encouraged a leisurely lunch hour with a glass of wine and a rest after lunch. Alas, no employer of mine has ever shared my view on the matter. Now, that I am retired, I can nap whenever I choose. The irony is that I find I am so busy that I don't have the time to take a nap.

Napping is fun

Napping is great but TM is better. The rest is deeper than sleep but you're restfully alert and aware of all that is going around you while at rest. So you can come out quickly if you hear an interruption coming.

Nappers, BEWARE! There was a fellow on the job (construction) who thoroughly enjoyed his noon-time nap, usually in a pipe chase- a dead space behind a finished wall. One piece of sheetrock + two mischievious carpenters + ten minutes = entombed pipefitter. All was quiet when we left at 3:30. The wall was busted open the following morning and we never saw him again. When you nap, you are vulnerable. I once awoke on a bus with my shoelaces tied. You never know who's around to take advantage.

I work in a cube in a corporate environment & take grad school classes in the evening. I am often sleep deprived & since I've started grad school, I've begun sneaking naps at work. I usually need one about once a week. I go into an unoccupied office (an office near my cube was recently vacated & the position hasn't been filled yet), lock the door and fall asleep on the floor. It usually takes me about 5 minutes to fall asleep, and I've been napping for 20-30 minutes. I awake very refreshed, although sometimes I have carpet marks on my face. I'm too chicken to start keeping a pillow in there though!

I attend a music school in the city and the little practice rooms we have are perfect to nap in. There are little windows on the door so I put a scarf over the window to show someone is inside, turn the lights out and rest. :) Relaxation is all a part of practicing...

A couple of points:

If I can get it, 20 minutes followed by a cup of coffee really does the trick. Perhaps Metro-Nap type operations could be profitable additions to the Starbucks-like coffee shop industry.

Drivers (of both cars and truck) in need of safe nap opportunities are a big safety issue.

Having a nap policy / allowance at a business is a bit like a vacation policy. For it to be useful and add to productivity, people must use it and not just take the time to shop, surf the net and come back to their desks tired and un-productive.

After listening to the podcast, I allowed one of my workers who was not feeling well to take a 20 minute nap to see if he felt better instead of sending him home. He woke up after 20 minutes on his own and finished the day fine. The 20 minute nap actually increased productivity.

I work at a small law office where we see all our clients in their homes, rather than have them come into the office. Thus, no one minds if I disappear under my desk for 20 minutes once in a while (and I don't count it as time worked).

I don't understand who these napper-haters are. Human beings have circadian rhythms, people! How much I sleep at night has ZERO effect on whether I feel sleepy around 3 PM the next day--this is just when my body gets tired. I'm sure napping makes many people more productive.

I wish The Metropolitan Museum of Art has "nap areas" or "resting areas." I have been thinking of writing to them with this suggestion.

I prefer a fiesta to a siesta.

napping makes me feel terrible. Nothing like having morning breath at 3pm...

caring for little people ages 0-3 enables me to incoorporate this precious "refueling time" for my brain, mind, spirit and body to regenerate my present being, and being present.

We are an eight person office and often work late. Because many of us would run out of gas in the afternoon, we built a nap compartment, sort of a Pullman berth, in a quiet corner of the office. Equipped with a decent matress, pillow, light blanket, and individual sheets, it has a curtain that can be drawn. We all use it at one time or another.

I majored in Philosophy, but never used it directly, although it served as a great background. I went on to a graduate degree in French which I taught for 10 yrs, then studied Art, and now own a decorative painting and wood finishing business.

I majored in Philosophy, but never used it directly. I went on to a graduate degree in French which I taught for 10 yrs, then studied Art. I now own a decorative painting and wood finishing business.

I've had stressful advertising jobs for over 5 years. I need a nap every day after lunch.

In the summer I go to Central Park. In the winter, I take a long subway ride, hopefully getting the corner seat where I can put my feet up. I know some people think this is dangerous, but I don't worry about it. It's not deep sleep -- it's almost a state between sleep and meditation -- so I remain aware of my surroundings.

American business culture needs to embrace people's need for a quick nap sometime during the workday. It improves productivity.

My father was a theoretical physicist and worked at Argonne National Lab in the 1950's and 60's. I would sometimes accompany him to work as a small child and noted that he had two desks in his office: one with paper and pencils for working and the other with a sleeping bag on it, for napping. Imagine my surprise and disappointment when as an adult I discovered that not all offices are so equipped!

After commuting from Park Slope to Columbus Circle everyday for 11 years, I am now a 3 minute bike ride from work. Before I would crave a mid-day nap, sleeping everywhere from the lawn of Central Park to surrepitiously in the clock tower in the Arsenal Building by the Zoo. Now, I bike home, am in bed within 10 minutes and have trained my self to sleep almost immediatelly, and then wake up by my watch alarm all refreshed, 40 minutes later . I'm a big advocate of The American Siesta and wished employers made it easier to sneak 40 winks.

I don't have a nap strategy to share, but I do have a relevant story about napping at work.

For about five years I worked for a TV production company, first as a production assistant and then eventually as an editor. This past august, while still editing for the company, I was violently attacked outside my building here in Clinton Hill.

About a month later I had to take a month off from work due to post traumatic stress disorder and was heavily medicated.

After three or so weeks of being back at work I'd gotten my show back on schedule, and was getting great reviews. Unfortunately I fell asleep twice on the job for brief periods due to the medication I was on. Since my edit suite had a glass door it was impossible to conceal, and the day after turning in a show two weeks ahead of schedule to rave reviews from my boss, she pulled me into her office and threatened to fire me for falling asleep, suggesting that I may want to adjust my medication. Since this was a big shock I suffered multiple panic attacks that day as a result, and was cornered by my boss and under intense pressure, left my job.

The real reasons to push me out were more complicated: the show was grossly over budget and I was the highest paid editor. The moral of the story is: be careful when napping at work even if you have a good excuse!

My job currently entails driving for a good portion of my day. Because of the inherent danger of becoming sleepy behind the wheel, on some days I MUST have a nap. If I'm stuck in traffic, have a long distance to drive, or am just too tired to keep my eyes open, I will find a spot to pull over and park my car (legally!) and take a 10-20 minute nap. I find it absolutely refreshing and I'm able to tackle my day with new fervor and focus.

i spend a lot of time driving to my work place. sometimes immediately after lunch i sneak into my car, while still parked in either the office lot, or in the parking lot of subway/dunkin donuts, lock my car from inside, switch off the engine, pull back the seat as far back as possible(for extra leg space) and push the back rest all the way down. i put a timer on my cell phone for exactly 20 minutes. this way i can get into a deep REM with out worrying about time. i wake up rejuvenated and ready to work for another 5 hrs non-stop.

I love napping, in fact I just woke up from a nap. I am in college and my day usually involves napping, sometimes in the library, except when I have to go to my internship in midtown. The project that I intern on relates to China (see #49) and the Chinese interns all nap after they have lunch. I'm not sure if my boss does, though. I feel too self-conscious about it so I have yet to do it, but I am always so tired!! I will give it a go this week though, emboldened by this radio program. Thanks nappers of the world!

Bathroom napping. Only option.

Downside is that it looks like I'm doing a really long #2.

I've never taken a nap at work before. I need one so bad in most days so I'm planning to do it during lunch hour by going to a nearby store and nap in one of their fitting rooms.