wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Siesta Keys

We take a look at the results of our "Nap Strategies" listener project with Camille Anthony of the Napping Company.

Lessons Learned from Napsourcing

1)Familiarize yourself with your employee handbook. We noticed that ours mentions sleeping on the job might be cause for dismissal—thumb through yours, okay?

2)Don’t be a germophobe. Many listeners wrote in praising the virtues of what one commenter called “The Dreaded Toilet Nap.” Use the toilet paper as a pillow, lock the door, and benefit from the fact that all things bathroom-related constitute a “don’t ask, don’t tell” zone in the workplace.

3)Love Your Cube. If your back is to everyone else, try what one listener does: “I just put my hand lightly on the mouse and close my eyes…it has taken a few years of practice to prevent my head from falling over but I think I have mastered that part.” If you’re not quite there, one listener uses the “head-leaning-on-the-hand” technique. Several of you pull a George Costanza and sleep under your desk.

4)Use your commute— but carefully. Sleeping on the bus/subway/train is a time-honored tradition, but as one person warned “I once awoke on a bus with my shoelaces tied—you never know who’s around to take advantage.” And no, you shouldn’t sleep while driving, Rick from Middletown.

5)Know Your Surroundings. Work near a park? Welcome to the park bench nap. Any empty offices nearby? Libraries with cushiony chairs? Houses of worship with welcoming pews? Museums? Work your environment!

6)Don’t go too far. One listener, a stage manager, fell asleep on a catwalk—only to be awoken by a stage light shining in her face at the opening of act one. Another, who works in construction, shared a cautionary tale about a fellow who napped in a pipe chase—and was entombed in sheet rock. And another, a habitual car napper, has had to ask for a jump start several times after his seat heater drained his battery.

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