I'm a napper. I'm an after-lunch napper. After a morning of work that begins at about 6:00 and a lunch that ends at about 12:30, I turn on CNN--there's nothing more comforting than listening to tales of global tragedies through the completely uncaring mouthpiece of the cable news networks--and I sleep for about a half hour.

With six hours of work under my belt, I feel fine taking a nap.

But when I wake up, here are the thoughts: "It's WEDNESDAY. You're sleeping on WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON! You must be the laziest, most unmotivated loser in the entire world. Everyone else in the world is working and you're sleeping your life away. You wretched, spoiled, horrible pig."

These thoughts, unpleasant as they are, drive me quite quickly to the coffee maker to make a fresh pot back to work to atone for my sins.

And I'm not even Catholic.

Napping is a glorious and wonderful thing, and totally in keeping with our animal natures. In fact, it's UNnatural NOT to nap. In a perfect world, standard workplace practice would include "siesta time" from, say, 2-3.

Sadly, institutionalized napping -- at least in our "enlightened" nation -- generally doesn't survive beyond nursery school. Certainly my employer doesn't approve of napping, but if I could, I'd be sawing the afternoon lumber every day. And I'm sure I'd be a better person for it.

Greg

Just the word "nap" conjures up lovely images of luxurious do-nothingness. The best is when it's a little chilly, and the sun is shining on the bed, and you wrap up in a blanket anyway. Yum!!!

I would take naps every day if I could, but I recently started getting up when I wanted (usually just in time to get my kids off to school), which means I'm not tired enough to take a nap.

But after reading your ode to naps, maybe I need to create that time for naps more - deliberately go upstairs with a book and read until I'm sleepy and then - oh, glorious nap!

"...I felt like she had just told the group that I diddled little boys three times a week."

I'm a big fan, but you just crossed over my personal line with that one, Steve.

Ooops. Sorry, Samantha. I was just trying to convey the sense of guilt that came rushing through me . . . and tied it to the most despicable thing in the world, in my opinion. Sorry if it went to far.

Dawn, I know what you mean about it being just a little bit chilly . . . just cold enough to need a blanket, and the sun is shining . . . oh, that's wonderful.

I also love the idea of falling asleep with a book on my chest, on the couch. There's something wonderful about that, too.

Steve C.

I got up at 5:20 yesterday to go to a meeting. I took two naps (one of them during the movie I took my kids to)yesterday and enjoyed both of them immensely. The first one happened about 9:30 in the morning when I realized I was groggy. So I just napped for 15 minutes, got up, and became (Shazam!) Captain Productive. As someone who loves his coffee, I believe there are times when naps are better than caffeine in terms of adding productivity (and certainly a lot cheaper than going to Fourbucks).

Glenn:

I used to think that short little 15-minute naps were nonsensical. There was a president, I think it was LBJ, or Truman, who would take five minute naps whenever he could, and claimed to be totally refreshed when he woke up. I never believed it . . . but recently, I've become a convert.

I can close my eyes for 15 or 20 minutes, wake up, and feel like a whole new person.

It's not as deeply satisying as a full-blown nap . . . but these maintenance naps are good, too.

Steve C.

I work full time in an office environment from 8:30 am - 5 pm Monday to Friday, so there's not really room for naps there. I am an out-and-proud weekend and vacation napper though. On work days when I slept particularly poorly or woke up particularly groggy, I have been known to scarf my lunch in five minutes and take the remaining 55 to sleep in my car, but I am definitely very secretive about THOSE naps. I lie and tell my coworkers I met a friend for lunch! I guess it has to do with professional image... I don't like to own up to my nap habit when I'm at work, but on the weekends I'm quite happy to be an Olympic napper since you're not expected to be in professional mode anyway.

I am a napper wanna be. I long to have a daily schedule that could include a nap, but alas, even on the weekends, the time just isn't there.

It used to be there. When my youngest son was younger, say 3, 4 years old, we used to have "family nap time" on the weekends - everyone went to their respective rooms and took a nap. My husband is like you - up at the ass-crack of o'dark-thirty - so by 10am, he requires a nap. I require him to take a nap on the weekends, otherwise he's asleep in a chair with a cocktail at 6:30pm. That's just not good for me. (and it really is all about ME, isn't it?) If we have plans for the evening that could potentially involve being out late, he'll come home early from work, in time to get ready and take a nap. I completely condone and promote this.

I should do the same thing, but don't. And now you have me wondering...do I just stay busy out of guilt? Am I in denial about my own nap guilt? Am I only encouraging my husband to nap so I can nap vicariously through him? When I do get to take a nap, I don't have napper's remorse, but why don't I take more naps? Hmmmm.

Oh, and you can't be mad at Cindy for outting you on the nap thing - you completely provoked her by outing her as a sleeper-inner. My husband likes to make fun of me because I might sleep until *gasp* 8 or even 9am on the weekends. "Half the day is gone!" he proclaims. Basically I get up, make breakfast, we eat together and then he takes a nap while I do my weekend chores. It's a system that totally works for us.

Just came across this quote from Winston Churchill, my new hero:

Churchill: You must sleep some time between lunch and dinner, and no half-way measures. Take off your clothes and get into bed. That's what I always do. Don't think you will be doing less work because you sleep during the day. That's a foolish notion held by people who have no imagination. You will be able to accomplish more. You get two days in one - well, at least one and a half, I'm sure. When the war started, I had to sleep during the day because that was the only way I could cope with my responsibilities.

Never in my wildest dreams would I have guessed that I am in the minority because I sleep only at nighttime.

I'll back you, Shari. I don't sleep during the day unless seriously ill and heavily drugged (e.g. true flu, non-trivial food poisoning and the like) and even then I find it difficult. I can't sleep when the sun's up. Sleep during daylight? Are you kidding? I have too many things I want to do -- plenty of time to sleep when you're dead. I don't even like falling asleep at night, and generally stay up until I'm bone tired and clearly require sleep because I can no longer knit, write, research, read, garden, or even surf the web competently. Sleep is non-productive and I resent it.

I compensate for this (I admit) unhealthy attitude by taking *hours* to wake up in the morning. I am a serious sleeper-inner on weekends -- often sleeping in until 8 or 9 or even later if I've got nothing pressing to do in the morning. After waking I indulge with caffeine and low-key work and general slacking off in the a.m., until the brain cells really kick in around 11-ish. Then I'm off and running. I do my best and most productive work in the late afternoon, and my best writing late at night when the sky has darkened, the house is still, and there's no distractions between me and the stark white of the page (or the screen, as the case may be).

My husband is a napper, and I've occasionally envied him the ability. But it's just not in me. I'm one of those "always busy" types who has 3 irons in the fire and another 5 queued up. There's no way I'd get to them all if I napped. Life's too short already.

I love naps and never felt a bit guilty, then again I am a catholic, but a sinfull one so that explains the lack of guilt. I don't nap during the week - big wigs would'nt appreciate it in the middle of their "time" but whenever I can on the week end when come four or five o'clock and it's nap time which gives me the drive to go all night...

Do we have a napping session at the IABC Conference next week?

I love naps! It is my favourite Summer Saturday afternoon past-time. But of course I have no children yet! I feel refreshed and at peace with the world. I am not sure if it makes me a better writer or more creative but it sure goes a long way to reminding me to slow down and enjoy life and that's good enough for me. But I am not catholic!

I am amazed that you buncha ne'er do wells and three toed sloths could manage the energy to type these replies! Naps? What the hell are those? I sleep 10 minutes a night - up hill both ways, mind you - and would never complain about it!

Wake up and smell the insomnia, you drags on productivity!

/could be the jealousy - and lack of sleep - talking

I love naps (and yes I am out and proud about it). I think my biggest regret about moving 40 minutes away from work is that now I can't run home in case of napping emergencies. That shouldn't stop me though since I have napped both in the staff lounge and under my desk in the past.

I also find sleep vital to good writing. I come up with my best stuff when I'm sleeping.

News from Nap-Land:
In Italy where I'm now living naps are a way of life. In fact they are just about required. From 12:30 until 3:30 every day, everyone goes home, eats lunch with the family and NAPS.

All the stores close for the 3 hour lunch interval including grocery stores, clothing stores, pharmacies, even the city hall and police station in our small town. The streets are totally disserted. I swear, the Italian dogs quit barking and nap during this time, too!

For a while we fought this, stupidly trying to shop, tugging on locked shop doors, or trying to set business appointments during the afternoon nap time. We thought we were "more productive" because we didn't nap. WRONG!

Napping is insync with the natural body rhythm. You eat lunch and everybody, North Americans included, have a sinking spell. Why go against nature? Take a nap and like the wonderfully natural Italians, get up afterwards and work until 8pm or later. You really will be more productive!

I have a special kind of nap -- the procrastinatory nap. It only happens to me when I am on the edge of a horrifying deadline, and it's coming down to the time when I absolutely HAVE to paste my butt to the chair and start writing. It's at that point when a giant weight descends upon me from the heavens, forcing me onto the couch or into bed. It's as if my body is saying, "I want to give you the best chance of writing something good, so I'm forcing you to have a nap to refresh yourself to maximum capability."

Or maybe it's my inner being saying "I, the God of Procrastination, absolutely refuse allow you to sit down and write. There's still time to waste! If you try to write, I will MAKE you fall asleep, whether you are tired or not." Whatever the force is, it always happens. And when I wake up, I have a clear head, and I finally get my writing done.

When I lived in Germany, during mittagschlafen (mid day sleep), you could not make any loud noises. I had friends who got a visit from the police becuase they were working outside ... loudly (Crazy Americans).

When I am at home watching the kids now, I am the nap police. "You are going to nap and you will not cry because Daddy has very important things to do on the couch."

Hooray for naps!

As I read through these I am realizing one glaringly obvious truth: I live in the wrong country. Hurrah for naps!

I didn't see Steve's latest blog entry until today, but am amazed (or maybe afraid) that it's the same topic my husband and I discussed just this weekend. I, too, nap whenever I can get away with it (which usually means on an occasional weekend afternoon) and don't feel a bit guilty about it...even thought I'm Catholic. My husband is a teacher (at an all-male Catholic high school...no jokes, please!) and he catches catnaps occasionally in the late afternoons/early evenings. We both wish we could nap every day, but work and home life (which includes three children) won't allow for it. The difference between us is that my husband could sleep through just about anything. I, on the other hand, became a light sleeper after our first child was born 14 years ago and have never quite recovered. Traffic noises, lawnmowers, ringing telephones, arguing or laughing children, meowing cats...all of these things wrest me from my slumber. So the joke in my house is that forces in the universe work together to foil any attempts I make to nap. And just this weekend, as I was beginning to stir from a good nap (rest of the family out of the house, no phone calls), our dear elderly neighbor fired up that damn lawnmower. He probably couldn't imagine someone sleeping at 3 in the afternoon on a Saturday. I'm all for the Italian custom of the mid-day lunch/nap interval. Not so sure, though, about working until 8 p.m. or later...my second job (you know, home life) would surely suffer.

I actually had a friend's therapist tell him that sleeping during the day was a clear sign of depression. I told him that he should tell his therapist to try a nap...it might quiet his judgemental mind.

Naps rule. I can do a 5-minute pre-meeting power nap right in my office chair. I own the company so I don't really care if anyone sees me. I can also do the full, under the covers two-hour special. It's the best in the hot summer when I've got the AC in the house down to about 70 and there's a PGA event on the tube.

I'm scared after reading this string, because I am both a "sleeper-inner" and an unrepentent napper - is that bad??

The other thing I thought of - Steve - is this sounds like an excellent business opportunity for you. A new seminar: perhaps "Napping for Creativity" or "Strategic Napping"??

Dee: "I told him that he should tell his therapist to try a nap...it might quiet his judgemental mind."

This had me completely cracking up. Good stuff.

Churchill and the rest are not alone. Our Chairman believes so strongly in the power of the nap he's contemplating introducing a Nap-dedicated room in our new offices. He posted an article explaining why on his blog. The article is here: http://www.businessopportunities.com/bob-daily/2006/4/29/office-power-nap.html

I agree with the European concept of an afternoon siesta or mittagschlafen and think that Congress should be looking into making this a Constitutional amendment. I rarely get a chance to nap during the work week, but there is nothing better than curling up on the bed with the cat and the dog for a Sunday afternoon nap.

Not much of a napper. I can't sleep when the sun is shining. I can't sleep on planes, either. My alarm goes off at 5 a.m. and I hit the hay around 9-9:30 every night, so I do feel I get sufficient beauty sleep (married, no kids. No wonder).

But I've got nothing against nappers. I long for the ability to sneak in a quick cat nap and wake up feeling refreshed. Unfortunately, all I've ever been able to muster is a face covered in drool, mascara stains under my eyes that won't go away, cat-shit breath and an unrelenting grogginess not unlike the side effect of a strong cough syrup.

Paranoia also plays a role in my inability to nap. I can't sleep in daylight or in public because of my fear that someone will hover over me and drop something absolutely vile into my open mouth.

Does low-grade narcolepsy count?

Colleen - did you have brothers, by chance, growing up???

Rebecca, it was the open mouth-easy target thing that gave it away, wasn't it? I actually don't remember my brother doing anything like that, but I'm sure I've blocked the trauma.

Poor Steve! Now he's got two Colleens to keep track of. (I'm the NY deli death march Colleen, by the way.)

For the record, I'm a big nap fan and yes, I do think it helps fuel my creativity and productivity. Unfortunately like many of you, I have to confine my napping activity to weekends, holidays and vacations. But oh, the wonderful stories and articles I could produce if only I could indulge in a brief nap each afternoon.

I nap on occasion, usually on rainy or otherwise non-productive days in which I am wrestling with the twin demons of procrastination and writer's block, both of whom conspire to bring on the loveliest of headaches and make me a grouch. I'll come home from work early - about 3 - announce that I am working (on the couch) 'so please do not disturb me' and within five minutes of settling into the chaise with my laptop, I will gently set it aside on a nearby ottoman, stretch out on the couch and further announce, 'I am shutting my eyes - but for just a little bit.'

Two hours later, I will rouse and drowsily try to get my bearings. That's when the bourbon on the rocks finds its way to my hand and I make a final declaration before hitting work for three to five solid hours: 'Oh my! Was that a DELICIOUS sleep!'

I use the words for this in my native language; the house smiles, and the world is right once more.

“The Good Lord Jesus didn’t take naps,” the nuns and priests would no doubt tell us, if they ever found out we were nappers. “And Jesus was nailed to a cross and died a horrible death because of YOU. If anybody needed a nap, it was Jesus, and he didn’t take naps. Why should YOU?”

You should convert to Islam -- The Prophet Muhammad was a well-documented napper between noon and afternoon prayers. And an early riser like you and probably the most productive man to have ever lived! Therefore no guilt necessary.

I for one am an enthusiastic napper when the opportunity arises - it has to be at home, in bedm during the afternoon and for at least 1hr - feels like absolute luxury. If I worked from home more I'd find napping irresistable!

Forget driving home for a nap and make like George Costanza. I share an office and my office mate introduced me to at-work napping. I keep a blanket in my office and when my brain is cloudy and I need a snooze, I hit the lights, shut the door and get comfy on the floor. My office mate either keeps working by the light of her puter or takes a nap on her half of the room. Twenty minutes can do wonders for productivity and attitude.