19 ms·

Take Naps at Work

523 points by aarohmankad 9y ago

Osiris 9y ago
My office had two small nap rooms in the break room. A small bench-like bed, a blanket, and a sliding door that makes a dark room. It's bed really to take a 20 minute break to refresh and refocus.
suneilp 9y ago
I like meditation better. I want a meditation room at work, complete isolation, with options for sitting and lying down. Deep meditation has become useful for me to relax and recharge. Also, when you get good at it, it helps you solve things faster when you get stuck on a problem.
- aryamaan 9y ago
  Tell us more. How do you (deep) meditate? I do meditation here and there and mostly follow this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4928060 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4928060
elchief 9y ago
I wonder how long it takes things like work productivity tips on HN to filter out to the real world?
- maxxxxx 9y ago
  Probably never. Naps are nothing new and companies who believe in them already have nap rooms or similar. Same for open office layouts. It's pretty well established that a lot of people hate them and find they hurt productivity but companies still use them.
  - elchief 9y ago
    Maybe. What I was trying to say is that you generally see pretty forward-thinking stuff on here, or in the SF computer industry in general, but it often doesn't (yet) apply to the average worker
- goldenkey 9y ago
  Sleeping at work is a pipedream.
- meric 9y ago
  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/18/japanese-firms-encourage-workers-sleep-on-job https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/18/japanese-firms...
comstock 9y ago
My feeling is that apart from really essential meetings (and those are very few) your schedule should be pretty open and sleep/break/nap when you want (ideally at home). Then use metrics other than bums on seats to measure performance.
blhack 9y ago
I don't think I could physically fall asleep at work. Are people really this tired while they're at their offices? It seems like if you're so tired while you're at work that you actually want to take a nap, then maybe there is another underlying problem.
- droopyEyelids 9y ago
  Thats natural human behavior. The biology term is 'arousal' and there are peaks in the morning and late afternoon, but around 1pm-ish your body naturally slows down and wants sleep. The effect is much stronger in children, but it's there with adults. You don't feel like you could fall asleep because you've trained yourself not to, and you're most likely taking wakefulness promoting drugs all day.
- reitanqild 9y ago
  I can easily if I had a quiet place. Also if I don’t sleep enough (e.g. kids awake at night + long day) I just start dreaming with eyes open. The amount of sleep a person needs and how long you can go without involuntarily fallin asleep seems to vary wildly though; a friend who I have reason to believe talks about working continiously for 3 days to catch a deadline. (The explanation was along the lines of: it hurts but what to do?) An ex colleague was also known to work through the night between working days.
- maxxxxx 9y ago
  A lot of people have a low after lunch. When I work from home I often nap for 20 minutes around 2pm and I think this makes rest of the day much better.
- cel1ne 9y ago
  I work from home-office and try to lie down for 10 minutes in the afternoon. I don't really fall asleep, but I found that just closing my eyes for this short amount of time gives me a tremendous boost of relaxation, especially when my mind gets into a dreamy state for a minute or so.
  - speedplane 9y ago
rectang 9y ago
For the last 8 years at work, I napped for 12-40 minutes basically every afternoon. I headed out into the parking lot and slept in the back of my car. (I bought the model I own after testing to make sure the back was nappable.) My most productive, creative time was the hour or two in the late afternoon following the nap. All my co-workers knew the deal and so did my boss. Nobody else napped, but my napping was normal and accepted. The idea of giving that up if I ever go back to a "normal" butts-in-seats company seems stupid and uncivilized.
- wereHamster 9y ago
  If your boss and coworkers new about it, why didn't they provide you with space inside the building to take naps? It's stupid having to walk outside and nap in your car. Google has special quiet rooms where people can go take naps and relax during the day.
  - rectang 9y ago
    Good points -- I agree that your suggestions would be optimal for nap-friendly companies. At this particular workplace, it took 90 seconds or so for me to walk from my desk to my car, so it wasn't a big deal. I was also used to the routine, and preferred the certainty that no one would ever walk in on me.
    - ianai 9y ago
      Would you run the AC?
      - rectang 9y ago
        Sometimes. Managing that issue was definitely something I thought about, and it affected where I parked and what direction I would point my parked car to avoid the sun. Usually I just rolled the windows down a few inches, though, instead of running the AC. I live in a temperate area and I have more tolerance for temperature swings than some. And I was usually setting my alarm for 20 minutes, so I wouldn't be there that long.
rosege 9y ago
There are definitely days when I've wished my workplace had a nap room. Maybe I've had a busy few days and I just get a bit more tired than normal after lunch. It makes sense to me - if I'm tired at 2pm then I normally have another 3.5 hours until clock off. If I dont nap they wont be very productive. If I could nap I would only lose half an hour then be productive for the other 3+ hours. I would probably stay longer anyway so its no lost time to my employer anyway.
malkia 9y ago
Where I work, go/nap is respected. If I see a teammate napping, I would try to be less noisy, and leave him/her to rest.
lz400 9y ago
The difficult part for me is avoiding napping during 50% of my conference calls.
- weavie 9y ago
  I did at one point consider trying to hook into my web cam so I could feed prerecorded footage of me being awake allowing me to nap without anyone noticing. This was at a point where meetings were compulsory, excessive and completely pointless.
  - mpfundstein 9y ago
    genius idea
daxfohl 9y ago
Better: eat less lunch. Ever since I've started having no more than a moderate bowl of low-cal (not "diet", just not "vitamix'd pizza") soup, the second half of the day is just as productive as the first. If I eat enough for a food coma, I go home; I'd provide no useful anything for the rest of the day, nap or no, so no sense hiding it by merely being around.
- oridecon 9y ago
  Isn't more about the type of food you eat instead of just calories? I tried to eat less but then I end it up having to eat again in the middle of the day.
  - daxfohl 9y ago
    I don't know. I've been limiting myself to ~400 kcal. About half of the time this is chicken, veg, and whole-wheat noodle soup. That's still a reasonable size portion, and I guess has some vitamins but I'm not a vitamin counter by any means. I do whatever makes me feel good, and this does the trick for me. I used to go to restaurants a lot more, but now hardly ever. And I really do stick to the "if I'm not going to be useful I go home" thing, and fortunately I'm in a group that's fine with it so long is it doesn't affect deadlines. Maybe once a month I'll cave to the urge to eat a big whatever and immediately regret it.
  - Broken_Hippo 9y ago
    To a point, yes - but to a point, no. Candy doesn't fill me up like veggies, for example - yet I'm not packing in protein to try to keep me full either. For me, part of the equation was finding out when I'm most hungry naturally. Eating a proper breakfast makes me more hungry later in the day. The same goes for eating a large lunch. So I tend to skip breakfast, have a small lunch - usually just a cheese sandwich, some fruit, or a piece of bread. Possibly have a small snack (fruit, nuts, chips), and then a large dinner. This also follows my own natural energy level - I'm a night owl. My mother is the opposite.
- rectang 9y ago
  I'm glad that you've found something which worked for you, and perhaps it will work for others as well. But it doesn't seem to me like "eat less lunch" is a direct alternative to napping, generalizable to the whole population as "better".
oridecon 9y ago
My coworker used to take a nap and fart really loud without noticing. I'm not trying to be funny I just worry I might do the same.
- weavie 9y ago
  What was the worst thing that happened to your coworker as a result of his farting?
  - oridecon 9y ago
    It's just pretty embarrassing. I understand some people don't care (like him because he was told about it by multiple people) but I do.
cortexio 9y ago
nytimes.. i'll skip
- dang 9y ago
  Please don't post unsubstantive comments to HN.
  - cortexio 9y ago
    it being "unsubstantive" is your opinion. I think it's important to look at the author/company behind the article, so i can determine if it can be taken seriously or not.
closed 9y ago
Before I started drinking coffee, I had a solid nap flow going. Now that coffee is in the picture, I'd probably just lay there for 20 minutes twitching :/.
- quotemstr 9y ago
  Don't worry: your tolerance will eventually reach a level such that you would have to consume physically impossible amounts of coffee for it to have any effect.
  - closed 9y ago
    "Congratulations you have reached complete habituation + crippling dependence!"
  - Swizec 9y ago
    Personally I find that there's a dynamic balance that forms. Any less caffeine and I'm a zombie, any more and it just feels physically repulsive. You make a cup take a sip and your mind is like Just No. For me that balance is at about 400 to 500 mg of caffeine per day. Stays stable for months and months, then I tend to reset a bit during a vacation of or 3-day weekend of some sort. Don't need caffeine at all if I'm not mentally working. Barrly crosses my mind.
  - boobsbr 9y ago
    Now we move on to performance enhancing supplements. All natural, of course. /s
- zem 9y ago
  might be worth giving the "caffeine nap" a try: https://vanwinkles.com/should-you-sip-an-espresso-before-your-next-nap https://vanwinkles.com/should-you-sip-an-espresso-before-you...
rdtsc 9y ago
Don't unless you're sure people won't talk behind your back and management won't get the wrong impression. "Look at so and so snoring while we are working hard getting stuff out of the door". Rationally you'll explain and show the article from NYT, and they'll agree. But irrationally they'll still form an opinion and stick to it.
- rectang 9y ago
  Another reason to prefer working remote, at least part of the time!
quotemstr 9y ago
I find nap rooms useful for those days when I've been there all night and need to have a semblance of functionality for meeting the next day.
flor1s 9y ago
Here in Japan it's very common to take naps during the day. Personally I don't take naps but I try to take enough rest during the night. Taking naps during the day might actually hurt your ability to sleep in the evening. https://www.verywell.com/30-days-to-better-sleep-go-to-bed-only-when-sleepy-3973903 https://www.verywell.com/30-days-to-better-sleep-go-to-bed-o...
aluhut 9y ago
I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't be allowed where I work. Even though it's an US company, it's being led by Germans and in some offices they will already complain if you eat too long. "Take Naps at Work. Apologize to No One." would be a pretty dangerous statement there.
- rukuu001 9y ago
  I worked at a place like that, and took secret 10m naps in a storeroom. The storeroom was accessed via a bathroom I could lock. Noone ever asked, 'hey, what have you been doing in the bathroom for the last 10 minutes??'
  - aluhut 9y ago
    Yeah we had one in the old building too. Now we can be happy that we have offices. They have windows towards the floor too so...I tend to take the car and sleep in the nearby forest during break. But only if I'm already pretty down.
- th4dv 9y ago
  > Even though it's an US company It always amazes me when someone just assumes that US companies are somehow superior to the rest of the world. I've worked for a couple of US based companies and the experience was shit compared to other non-US companies I worked for.
  - aluhut 9y ago
    I wouldn't say "superior". I don't know anybody who'd have assumed that at all. You must have gotten that wrong somehow. Especially in my business, people assume German companies to be far more superior (which is also not really true based on my experience). However, you do expect some kind of "business culture" especially because the company usually forces the advertisement for it onto you whether you want or not. Our floor are plastered with Fremdscham posters and phrases in english. Often you also hear a manager in a meeting praising some new trope from the East Coast regarding office layout or similar. What really sticks with is the informal "you" though. It's really helpful most of the time.
beilabs 9y ago
When I worked in China (5000 engineer company) we'd have our lunch in the canteen, I found that many returned to their desk for the last 15 minutes of their lunch break. Out came the pillows, all lights were dimmed and calming music played through the PA system. No-one spoke, made noise during this time; quick power nap of 15 minutes did the trick for a lot of people. Definitely something I approve of; I've a small mattress in my office just for such occasions.
- samsonradu 9y ago
  Curious if you were able to do the same? From what I've seen asians have this ability to pretty much sleep anywhere, planes, trains, buses anything. The crappy chairs and noisy engines don't seem to bother them. I don't think I could ever fall asleep in the lunch break, the morning coffee and the light outside doesn't let my brain go off. EDIT I really don't mean to offend anyone, just curious whether the ability to fall asleep in uncomfortable environments is something asian-specific.
  - xiaoma 9y ago
    I wouldn't say it's about Asia so much as Anglophones are notable for not taking siestas. Aside from China, it's pretty common in much of southern Europe, the Mediterranean, and Latin America.
    - icebraining 9y ago
      Is it, though? I'm from sourthern Europe, and nobody I know under 70 takes daily naps. Even in Spain, where they take long lunch breaks supposedly for taking siestas, only 16% of the adult population actually does so, according to a large study.
  - ship_it 9y ago
    That is called a stereotype judgment.
  - beilabs 9y ago
    I took advantage of eating out in the local eateries and avoided the canteen food; it was rare enough that I was back 15 minutes before I was meant to. :D
spike021 9y ago
At my job, I always feel like it's frowned upon to take a nap. In most cases we're a "as long as you get your work done, we can be flexible with hours" kind of shop. But the moment I close my eyes even for just a few short moments, someone either taps me or later mentions "man, you look exhausted, are you okay?" Power naps make me feel more refreshed, which I'd assume people would want out of their coworker/employee late in the work day, but maybe I'm wrong.
peterburkimsher 9y ago
Lunchtime naps are common in Taiwan. Someone will turn off the light in the office at the start of the lunch break, and turn it back on at the end. That change of lighting encourages everyone to take a rest or leave, because staying will disturb the people who want to rest. It also saves a little electricity, I suppose.
- gurkendoktor 9y ago
  I've only experienced this in a university, not in an office, but it was really easy to fall asleep when everyone around you does the same (even easier than alone, IMHO).
freeflight 9y ago
I'm really envious of people who are actually able to take naps because it just doesn't work for me. By the time I actually "phase out", for which I need at least like 20-30 minutes, most of my lunch break would already be over, resulting in me waking up all groggy and irritated.
- therealdrag0 9y ago
  How much have you tried it? My impression is grogginess doesn't really set in until after being asleep for >40min. Sometimes when I try to nap I never go fully under, but the relaxation and slipping away is still refreshing.
- eloisant 9y ago
  Being able to sleep anytime, anywhere is basically something you can train to. When you do, it's extremely powerful to stay alert. As a starter you don't have to make actual naps, just close your eyes and rest for a few minutes.
  - freeflight 9y ago
    Everytime I try that it leads to the same outcome: By the time I relax I feel so good about that state that I'm just pissed off when I'm forced out of it, so I don't even want to get there in the first place. You maybe know about any good online resources for nap training?
    - awiesenhofer 9y ago
      No resources needed, you just have to keep at it: * lay down * set a 20 minutes timer * close your eyes and try to relax, don't open them until the timer rings, even if you are not sleeping * repeat daily, ideally around the same time every day Took me a week but now I sleep almost instantly If you have troubles getting up afterwards, try a powernap: drinking one cup of coffee right before napping. The caffeine will kick in at about the same time your nap ends.
    - wtf_is_up 9y ago
partycoder 9y ago
In Japan this is called inemuri. However there is etiquette associated to sleeping on the job. I've heard in some cases there are secret nap meetings where all the attendees agree to take a nap.
- logfromblammo 9y ago
  That's brilliant. But how do you safeguard against a defector reporting against the rest of the group?
  - partycoder 9y ago
    Taking naps is seen as a good thing, it means you are tired from too much working. In fact, some people fake it.
amelius 9y ago
I'll make sure that article is visible in my browser while I'm taking that nap.
have_faith 9y ago
>Sleeping on the job is one of those workplace taboos — like leaving your desk for lunch What kind of company is it a taboo to leave your desk for lunch?
- deepGem 9y ago
  Trading desks at financial services firms.
- spiderfarmer 9y ago
  My question as well. Is this really a thing in the US?
  - cylinder 9y ago
    Yes pretty much. In NYC especially everyone goes out, grabs lunch and brings it back to eat at their desks.
- bcoughlan 9y ago
  Here's a quote from a "day in the life" sheet I was sent after a phone interview with Susquehanna. I didn't continue with the job interview for this very reason: "SIG partners with external caterers to provide a buffet lunch of main courses, salads, soup, and dessert, and it changes on daily basis. So you grab a plate and head back to your desk to eat; it will give you some time to catch up on the latest tech and market news on the net as you eat."
  - icebraining 9y ago
    Holy crap. And they can actually recruit?
  - koonsolo 9y ago
    Nerds don't need social interaction during lunch time right? They probably forgot "So you grab a plate and head back to the basement to eat at your desk."
  - noway421 9y ago
innopreneur 9y ago
In India, this seems to be common in households. You would find family members taking an hour or so nap after lunch. Even during festivals or occasions, host arranges nap session for guests. Though it is seen as unprofessional in offices. Until few years ago I used to think those people as lazy and unproductive but now perspective seems to be changing.
drmanny 9y ago
What if your boss is about to catch you napping under your desk and you have to call a friend and convince him to call in a bomb threat so you can escape?
- HeadlessChild 9y ago
  "Who is this?"
- momentmaker 9y ago
  Costanza
- logfromblammo 9y ago
  A bomb? George's desk is built like a bunker! I'll hide under it until they sound the all clear!
kraftman 9y ago
Or you could work shorter hours and get a decent nights sleep.
baby 9y ago
I'm all for this, but I think it's also important not to eat too much for lunch and to do sport, you probably won't feel like taking naps during the day as much.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
oneeyedpigeon 9y ago
> Naps at work can make you more productive. Maybe don’t be this obvious about it, though. That image caption sums up the prevailing attitude for me, really: don't be obvious that you're being more productive, especially if it goes against the grain. Better to toe the line and be less productive. There are many examples of the same phenomenon, beyond just napping.
ck425 9y ago
I've regularly taken naps at lunch too and found they make a big difference to afternoon productivity. I've found walking also has a similar effects, especially on grass. I normally do one or the other depending on how well I slept the night before. How long do people find most effective? I've found either 12 min or 30 min to be best for me. 30 min if I'm particularly tired, 12 min if not. If I go longer than 12 I get foggy for around 30 min after.
deskglass 9y ago
How do you take naps? It takes me an hour or two to fall asleep. I don't drink coffee.
raoulr 9y ago
Technique around here is to nap in the car. 15 minutes is usually enough to be refreshed.
pmarcelino 9y ago
I've been doing naps at work for the last year, since I started to try polyphasic sleep. Naps play an essential role in my polyphasic strategy. Those 30 minutes I spend sleeping after lunch save me some sleep hours during night. You can get some data points about naps and its importance in this book (which I recommend): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sleep-Myth-Hours-Power-Recharge/dp/0241975972/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1498658901&sr=8-2&keywords=sleep+book https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sleep-Myth-Hours-Power-Recharge/dp/...
beat 9y ago
One of the nice things about working from home, for me, is the ability to take the occasional nap when I'm dragging. It takes me about 15 minutes to get what I need... once I hit a half hour, it becomes counterproductive as I'm starting to "sleep" rather than "nap". Most nights, I do get sufficient sleep, but I need the occasional nap anyway.
inestyne 9y ago
This goes back to the days when people drank much more, at work, at lunch, etc... In a drinking culture, nodding off at your desk is a very very bad thing because it means you can't handle your liquor and this just could not be tolerated. Due to all the drinking, with management and clients, if you had a problem your were a liability. It's insane but it was another time. Not my generation but I've had conversations. Napping now, with the amount of real work we all do. The stress level we are willing to carry. It's just not anybody's business anymore.
ksk 9y ago
Do the companies who allow naps see it as a perk or a necessity? IOW, if you see naps as beneficial would you be OK with people taking them during a product release, or a service interruption?
- twobyfour 9y ago
  A nap being a "necessity" doesn't necessarily mean that taking it at whatever time you want is a necessity. Take the nap before or after the release; or after service is restored. It's not that complicated. FWIW, I don't see why it would have to be either a perk or a necessity, rather than a potential productivity booster that shouldn't be mandatory but can be beneficial to both the employee and the company. I would put things like allowing employees to listen to music on headphones while at work into the same bucket.
  - ksk 9y ago
    >Take the nap before or after the release; or after service is restored. It's not that complicated. But if it is indeed a potential productivity booster, why would you skip the nap during service interruptions or product releases?
    - twobyfour 9y ago
      Because most people can still be productive without a nap, just marginally less productive. And in many cases time is money. Unless your service interruption is lasting all day (in which case you have bigger problems), it's much better for the company to get the site back up in 10 minutes than to wait 30 minutes for you to finish your nap and then get it back up in 8 minutes. Especially if you're losing $10K in revenue (or more) for every minute of downtime. Whereas the work you'll be doing once the service is back up can be done more efficiently or creatively or thoughtfully after a nap, but won't suffer from being pushed back half an hour. Releases, well, that depends on your release process.
      - ksk 9y ago
        I wasn't arguing one way or the other. I wanted to see if people thought it was a massive boost or just a marginal one. Seems like you think its marginal.
menzoic 9y ago
NYTimes HQ has 3 nap rooms on different floors. Not sure how many people knew about it.
sgspace 9y ago
Napping is fireable offense at my company. :(
SirLJ 9y ago
This is the greatest benefit of working from home (or second greatest if you have a lot of traffic to fight)... Around lunch, do a quick 30min exercise, protein shake, lay down, read a bit and fall asleep for 30 minute and you'll feel like you have one more productive day in the afternoon...
bakul 9y ago
I found that I don't feel sleepy after lunch if I work while standing up. But if I sit in a chair I can feel sleepy and a five minute nap makes for a more productive afternoon than fighting the sleepiness. Has anyone else observed this effect of curing after lunch sleepiness by standing up?
bitwize 9y ago
I'll take "fast tracks to a pink slip" for $800, Alex.
overcast 9y ago
I work about 5 minutes from my house. I get to go home, in silence, grab some food, and nap in my own bed. It makes ALL the difference in the world.
notadoc 9y ago
I don't understand napping, never have. Are you really that tired that you must sleep in the middle of the day? Maybe you just need better rest at night, or maybe you need to exercise more or eat better food? Unless you're a toddler then napping feels like compensating for something else. To each their own, if it works for you that's great.
- endorphone 9y ago
  Your first paragraph stands in contrast with the last. For some people napping optimizes their energy through the day.
- ravenstine 9y ago
  I do wonder the same thing. While I do need points in the day to just stop working and relax my brain, even daydream, I never feel the need for an actual nap. I have to wonder if diet and fitness have anything to do with it.
- logicalmike 9y ago
  In my opinion, napping becomes more essential with hard training. Even with sleeping well every night, I still find myself napping almost daily.
- nandemo 9y ago
  Did you read the article? > In a study published in Nature Neuroscience, researchers tested subjects on their perceptual performance four times throughout the day. Performance deteriorated with each test, but subjects who took a 30-minute nap between tests stopped the deterioration in performance, and those who took a 60-minute nap even reversed it.
- Delmania 9y ago
  > I don't understand napping, never have. Are you really that tired that you must sleep in the middle of the day? I exercise 5 times a day, and I eat a very clean diet. Not keto or paleo, but definitely low in carbs, high in fat and vegetables etc. I still sleep for 20 minutes at lunch. Human adults are tuned to feel sleepy after being up for 8 hours or so.
peterkshultz 9y ago
A study by NASA found that the optimal time for a nap was 26 minutes. The lengthy study can be found [here](http://www.jetlog.com/fileadmin/downloads/NASA_TM_94_108839.pdf http://www.jetlog.com/fileadmin/downloads/NASA_TM_94_108839....).
ltwdm 9y ago
I think age plays a role too- a few years ago I would have laughed at the idea of someone having to take a break and rest in the middle of an 8 hour period to regain energy. But I can now clearly see how that matters.
carrja99 9y ago
I quit energy drinks 3 months ago, taking a nap during lunch has been immensely important.
fixesCrashes 9y ago
And here I'm, on a holiday, pretending to provide IT support to five employees. The other 90+ employees chose not to work on holiday. I hate society...
nstricevic 9y ago
I nap for 20 minutes every day at work (at my previous company, for 4 years or so and now since I'm working remotely). Here are my steps for taking a nap: 1. Find a good place to nap. Use the same place every day. I used to nap under my desk on a lazy bag at my last job. 2. Quickly find a comfortable position. Quickly fix everything that bothers you (like watch on your wrist or anything else that's making you uncomfortable). 3. Start breathing from your stomach - not your upper torso. Your stomach should raise up and down, not your upper torso. 4. Relax your whole body. In the beginning, start by relaxing one by one region. First your toes. Then your lower leg, then your upper leg. Then the other leg... Until you relax your whole body. It should feel as your mind is separate from your body. Like it could go out of it. Your body should be completely numb. Later, as you progress, you will be able to relax your whole body with a few breaths. As if some force flows from your stomach and removes spasm from your body as you breath out. 5. Start removing thoughts from your brain. As you start thinking about something, just stop. Another thought comes in. Kill it. Just kill thoughts. You can think only about your breathing. Nothing else. That's it. With these steps, I'm able to feel a sleep in just a few moments. I use that all the time. Bonus: I have a special position that I "developed" that mitigates office sounds. I nap on my back, slightly turned on left side. I put my left ear on the pillow or a lazy bag. I put my right hand over my right ear and over my head. That way, a pillow isolates my left ear, while my right biceps isolates my right ear from sounds. I found this to be very effective. Good luck napping.
tassar 9y ago
是

523 points by aarohmankad 9y ago

My office had two small nap rooms in the break room. A small bench-like bed, a blanket, and a sliding door that makes a dark room. It's bed really to take a 20 minute break to refresh and refocus.

suneilp 9y ago

I like meditation better. I want a meditation room at work, complete isolation, with options for sitting and lying down. Deep meditation has become useful for me to relax and recharge. Also, when you get good at it, it helps you solve things faster when you get stuck on a problem.

aryamaan 9y ago
Tell us more. How do you (deep) meditate? I do meditation here and there and mostly follow this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4928060 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4928060

elchief 9y ago

I wonder how long it takes things like work productivity tips on HN to filter out to the real world?

maxxxxx 9y ago
Probably never. Naps are nothing new and companies who believe in them already have nap rooms or similar. Same for open office layouts. It's pretty well established that a lot of people hate them and find they hurt productivity but companies still use them.
- elchief 9y ago
  Maybe. What I was trying to say is that you generally see pretty forward-thinking stuff on here, or in the SF computer industry in general, but it often doesn't (yet) apply to the average worker
goldenkey 9y ago
Sleeping at work is a pipedream.
meric 9y ago
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/18/japanese-firms-encourage-workers-sleep-on-job https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/18/japanese-firms...

comstock 9y ago

My feeling is that apart from really essential meetings (and those are very few) your schedule should be pretty open and sleep/break/nap when you want (ideally at home). Then use metrics other than bums on seats to measure performance.

blhack 9y ago

I don't think I could physically fall asleep at work. Are people really this tired while they're at their offices? It seems like if you're so tired while you're at work that you actually want to take a nap, then maybe there is another underlying problem.

droopyEyelids 9y ago
Thats natural human behavior. The biology term is 'arousal' and there are peaks in the morning and late afternoon, but around 1pm-ish your body naturally slows down and wants sleep. The effect is much stronger in children, but it's there with adults. You don't feel like you could fall asleep because you've trained yourself not to, and you're most likely taking wakefulness promoting drugs all day.
reitanqild 9y ago
I can easily if I had a quiet place. Also if I don’t sleep enough (e.g. kids awake at night + long day) I just start dreaming with eyes open. The amount of sleep a person needs and how long you can go without involuntarily fallin asleep seems to vary wildly though; a friend who I have reason to believe talks about working continiously for 3 days to catch a deadline. (The explanation was along the lines of: it hurts but what to do?) An ex colleague was also known to work through the night between working days.
maxxxxx 9y ago
A lot of people have a low after lunch. When I work from home I often nap for 20 minutes around 2pm and I think this makes rest of the day much better.
cel1ne 9y ago
I work from home-office and try to lie down for 10 minutes in the afternoon. I don't really fall asleep, but I found that just closing my eyes for this short amount of time gives me a tremendous boost of relaxation, especially when my mind gets into a dreamy state for a minute or so.
- speedplane 9y ago

rectang 9y ago

For the last 8 years at work, I napped for 12-40 minutes basically every afternoon. I headed out into the parking lot and slept in the back of my car. (I bought the model I own after testing to make sure the back was nappable.) My most productive, creative time was the hour or two in the late afternoon following the nap. All my co-workers knew the deal and so did my boss. Nobody else napped, but my napping was normal and accepted. The idea of giving that up if I ever go back to a "normal" butts-in-seats company seems stupid and uncivilized.

wereHamster 9y ago
If your boss and coworkers new about it, why didn't they provide you with space inside the building to take naps? It's stupid having to walk outside and nap in your car. Google has special quiet rooms where people can go take naps and relax during the day.
- rectang 9y ago
  Good points -- I agree that your suggestions would be optimal for nap-friendly companies. At this particular workplace, it took 90 seconds or so for me to walk from my desk to my car, so it wasn't a big deal. I was also used to the routine, and preferred the certainty that no one would ever walk in on me.
  - ianai 9y ago
    Would you run the AC?
    - rectang 9y ago
      Sometimes. Managing that issue was definitely something I thought about, and it affected where I parked and what direction I would point my parked car to avoid the sun. Usually I just rolled the windows down a few inches, though, instead of running the AC. I live in a temperate area and I have more tolerance for temperature swings than some. And I was usually setting my alarm for 20 minutes, so I wouldn't be there that long.

rosege 9y ago

There are definitely days when I've wished my workplace had a nap room. Maybe I've had a busy few days and I just get a bit more tired than normal after lunch. It makes sense to me - if I'm tired at 2pm then I normally have another 3.5 hours until clock off. If I dont nap they wont be very productive. If I could nap I would only lose half an hour then be productive for the other 3+ hours. I would probably stay longer anyway so its no lost time to my employer anyway.

malkia 9y ago

Where I work, go/nap is respected. If I see a teammate napping, I would try to be less noisy, and leave him/her to rest.

lz400 9y ago

The difficult part for me is avoiding napping during 50% of my conference calls.

weavie 9y ago
I did at one point consider trying to hook into my web cam so I could feed prerecorded footage of me being awake allowing me to nap without anyone noticing. This was at a point where meetings were compulsory, excessive and completely pointless.
- mpfundstein 9y ago
  genius idea

daxfohl 9y ago

Better: eat less lunch. Ever since I've started having no more than a moderate bowl of low-cal (not "diet", just not "vitamix'd pizza") soup, the second half of the day is just as productive as the first. If I eat enough for a food coma, I go home; I'd provide no useful anything for the rest of the day, nap or no, so no sense hiding it by merely being around.

oridecon 9y ago
Isn't more about the type of food you eat instead of just calories? I tried to eat less but then I end it up having to eat again in the middle of the day.
- daxfohl 9y ago
  I don't know. I've been limiting myself to ~400 kcal. About half of the time this is chicken, veg, and whole-wheat noodle soup. That's still a reasonable size portion, and I guess has some vitamins but I'm not a vitamin counter by any means. I do whatever makes me feel good, and this does the trick for me. I used to go to restaurants a lot more, but now hardly ever. And I really do stick to the "if I'm not going to be useful I go home" thing, and fortunately I'm in a group that's fine with it so long is it doesn't affect deadlines. Maybe once a month I'll cave to the urge to eat a big whatever and immediately regret it.
- Broken_Hippo 9y ago
  To a point, yes - but to a point, no. Candy doesn't fill me up like veggies, for example - yet I'm not packing in protein to try to keep me full either. For me, part of the equation was finding out when I'm most hungry naturally. Eating a proper breakfast makes me more hungry later in the day. The same goes for eating a large lunch. So I tend to skip breakfast, have a small lunch - usually just a cheese sandwich, some fruit, or a piece of bread. Possibly have a small snack (fruit, nuts, chips), and then a large dinner. This also follows my own natural energy level - I'm a night owl. My mother is the opposite.
rectang 9y ago
I'm glad that you've found something which worked for you, and perhaps it will work for others as well. But it doesn't seem to me like "eat less lunch" is a direct alternative to napping, generalizable to the whole population as "better".

oridecon 9y ago

My coworker used to take a nap and fart really loud without noticing. I'm not trying to be funny I just worry I might do the same.

weavie 9y ago
What was the worst thing that happened to your coworker as a result of his farting?
- oridecon 9y ago
  It's just pretty embarrassing. I understand some people don't care (like him because he was told about it by multiple people) but I do.

cortexio 9y ago

nytimes.. i'll skip

dang 9y ago
Please don't post unsubstantive comments to HN.
- cortexio 9y ago
  it being "unsubstantive" is your opinion. I think it's important to look at the author/company behind the article, so i can determine if it can be taken seriously or not.

closed 9y ago

Before I started drinking coffee, I had a solid nap flow going. Now that coffee is in the picture, I'd probably just lay there for 20 minutes twitching :/.

quotemstr 9y ago
Don't worry: your tolerance will eventually reach a level such that you would have to consume physically impossible amounts of coffee for it to have any effect.
- closed 9y ago
  "Congratulations you have reached complete habituation + crippling dependence!"
- Swizec 9y ago
  Personally I find that there's a dynamic balance that forms. Any less caffeine and I'm a zombie, any more and it just feels physically repulsive. You make a cup take a sip and your mind is like Just No. For me that balance is at about 400 to 500 mg of caffeine per day. Stays stable for months and months, then I tend to reset a bit during a vacation of or 3-day weekend of some sort. Don't need caffeine at all if I'm not mentally working. Barrly crosses my mind.
- boobsbr 9y ago
  Now we move on to performance enhancing supplements. All natural, of course. /s
zem 9y ago
might be worth giving the "caffeine nap" a try: https://vanwinkles.com/should-you-sip-an-espresso-before-your-next-nap https://vanwinkles.com/should-you-sip-an-espresso-before-you...

rdtsc 9y ago

Don't unless you're sure people won't talk behind your back and management won't get the wrong impression. "Look at so and so snoring while we are working hard getting stuff out of the door". Rationally you'll explain and show the article from NYT, and they'll agree. But irrationally they'll still form an opinion and stick to it.

rectang 9y ago
Another reason to prefer working remote, at least part of the time!

quotemstr 9y ago

I find nap rooms useful for those days when I've been there all night and need to have a semblance of functionality for meeting the next day.

flor1s 9y ago

Here in Japan it's very common to take naps during the day. Personally I don't take naps but I try to take enough rest during the night. Taking naps during the day might actually hurt your ability to sleep in the evening. https://www.verywell.com/30-days-to-better-sleep-go-to-bed-only-when-sleepy-3973903 https://www.verywell.com/30-days-to-better-sleep-go-to-bed-o...

aluhut 9y ago

I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't be allowed where I work. Even though it's an US company, it's being led by Germans and in some offices they will already complain if you eat too long. "Take Naps at Work. Apologize to No One." would be a pretty dangerous statement there.

rukuu001 9y ago
I worked at a place like that, and took secret 10m naps in a storeroom. The storeroom was accessed via a bathroom I could lock. Noone ever asked, 'hey, what have you been doing in the bathroom for the last 10 minutes??'
- aluhut 9y ago
  Yeah we had one in the old building too. Now we can be happy that we have offices. They have windows towards the floor too so...I tend to take the car and sleep in the nearby forest during break. But only if I'm already pretty down.
th4dv 9y ago
> Even though it's an US company It always amazes me when someone just assumes that US companies are somehow superior to the rest of the world. I've worked for a couple of US based companies and the experience was shit compared to other non-US companies I worked for.
- aluhut 9y ago
  I wouldn't say "superior". I don't know anybody who'd have assumed that at all. You must have gotten that wrong somehow. Especially in my business, people assume German companies to be far more superior (which is also not really true based on my experience). However, you do expect some kind of "business culture" especially because the company usually forces the advertisement for it onto you whether you want or not. Our floor are plastered with Fremdscham posters and phrases in english. Often you also hear a manager in a meeting praising some new trope from the East Coast regarding office layout or similar. What really sticks with is the informal "you" though. It's really helpful most of the time.

beilabs 9y ago

When I worked in China (5000 engineer company) we'd have our lunch in the canteen, I found that many returned to their desk for the last 15 minutes of their lunch break. Out came the pillows, all lights were dimmed and calming music played through the PA system. No-one spoke, made noise during this time; quick power nap of 15 minutes did the trick for a lot of people. Definitely something I approve of; I've a small mattress in my office just for such occasions.

samsonradu 9y ago
Curious if you were able to do the same? From what I've seen asians have this ability to pretty much sleep anywhere, planes, trains, buses anything. The crappy chairs and noisy engines don't seem to bother them. I don't think I could ever fall asleep in the lunch break, the morning coffee and the light outside doesn't let my brain go off. EDIT I really don't mean to offend anyone, just curious whether the ability to fall asleep in uncomfortable environments is something asian-specific.
- xiaoma 9y ago
  I wouldn't say it's about Asia so much as Anglophones are notable for not taking siestas. Aside from China, it's pretty common in much of southern Europe, the Mediterranean, and Latin America.
  - icebraining 9y ago
    Is it, though? I'm from sourthern Europe, and nobody I know under 70 takes daily naps. Even in Spain, where they take long lunch breaks supposedly for taking siestas, only 16% of the adult population actually does so, according to a large study.
- ship_it 9y ago
  That is called a stereotype judgment.
- beilabs 9y ago
  I took advantage of eating out in the local eateries and avoided the canteen food; it was rare enough that I was back 15 minutes before I was meant to. :D

spike021 9y ago

At my job, I always feel like it's frowned upon to take a nap. In most cases we're a "as long as you get your work done, we can be flexible with hours" kind of shop. But the moment I close my eyes even for just a few short moments, someone either taps me or later mentions "man, you look exhausted, are you okay?" Power naps make me feel more refreshed, which I'd assume people would want out of their coworker/employee late in the work day, but maybe I'm wrong.

peterburkimsher 9y ago

Lunchtime naps are common in Taiwan. Someone will turn off the light in the office at the start of the lunch break, and turn it back on at the end. That change of lighting encourages everyone to take a rest or leave, because staying will disturb the people who want to rest. It also saves a little electricity, I suppose.

gurkendoktor 9y ago
I've only experienced this in a university, not in an office, but it was really easy to fall asleep when everyone around you does the same (even easier than alone, IMHO).

freeflight 9y ago

I'm really envious of people who are actually able to take naps because it just doesn't work for me. By the time I actually "phase out", for which I need at least like 20-30 minutes, most of my lunch break would already be over, resulting in me waking up all groggy and irritated.

therealdrag0 9y ago
How much have you tried it? My impression is grogginess doesn't really set in until after being asleep for >40min. Sometimes when I try to nap I never go fully under, but the relaxation and slipping away is still refreshing.
eloisant 9y ago
Being able to sleep anytime, anywhere is basically something you can train to. When you do, it's extremely powerful to stay alert. As a starter you don't have to make actual naps, just close your eyes and rest for a few minutes.
- freeflight 9y ago
  Everytime I try that it leads to the same outcome: By the time I relax I feel so good about that state that I'm just pissed off when I'm forced out of it, so I don't even want to get there in the first place. You maybe know about any good online resources for nap training?
  - awiesenhofer 9y ago
    No resources needed, you just have to keep at it: * lay down * set a 20 minutes timer * close your eyes and try to relax, don't open them until the timer rings, even if you are not sleeping * repeat daily, ideally around the same time every day Took me a week but now I sleep almost instantly If you have troubles getting up afterwards, try a powernap: drinking one cup of coffee right before napping. The caffeine will kick in at about the same time your nap ends.
  - wtf_is_up 9y ago

partycoder 9y ago

In Japan this is called inemuri. However there is etiquette associated to sleeping on the job. I've heard in some cases there are secret nap meetings where all the attendees agree to take a nap.

logfromblammo 9y ago
That's brilliant. But how do you safeguard against a defector reporting against the rest of the group?
- partycoder 9y ago
  Taking naps is seen as a good thing, it means you are tired from too much working. In fact, some people fake it.

amelius 9y ago

I'll make sure that article is visible in my browser while I'm taking that nap.

have_faith 9y ago

>Sleeping on the job is one of those workplace taboos — like leaving your desk for lunch What kind of company is it a taboo to leave your desk for lunch?

deepGem 9y ago
Trading desks at financial services firms.
spiderfarmer 9y ago
My question as well. Is this really a thing in the US?
- cylinder 9y ago
  Yes pretty much. In NYC especially everyone goes out, grabs lunch and brings it back to eat at their desks.
bcoughlan 9y ago
Here's a quote from a "day in the life" sheet I was sent after a phone interview with Susquehanna. I didn't continue with the job interview for this very reason: "SIG partners with external caterers to provide a buffet lunch of main courses, salads, soup, and dessert, and it changes on daily basis. So you grab a plate and head back to your desk to eat; it will give you some time to catch up on the latest tech and market news on the net as you eat."
- icebraining 9y ago
  Holy crap. And they can actually recruit?
- koonsolo 9y ago
  Nerds don't need social interaction during lunch time right? They probably forgot "So you grab a plate and head back to the basement to eat at your desk."
- noway421 9y ago

innopreneur 9y ago

In India, this seems to be common in households. You would find family members taking an hour or so nap after lunch. Even during festivals or occasions, host arranges nap session for guests. Though it is seen as unprofessional in offices. Until few years ago I used to think those people as lazy and unproductive but now perspective seems to be changing.

drmanny 9y ago

What if your boss is about to catch you napping under your desk and you have to call a friend and convince him to call in a bomb threat so you can escape?

HeadlessChild 9y ago
"Who is this?"
momentmaker 9y ago
Costanza
logfromblammo 9y ago
A bomb? George's desk is built like a bunker! I'll hide under it until they sound the all clear!

kraftman 9y ago

Or you could work shorter hours and get a decent nights sleep.

baby 9y ago

I'm all for this, but I think it's also important not to eat too much for lunch and to do sport, you probably won't feel like taking naps during the day as much.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

oneeyedpigeon 9y ago

> Naps at work can make you more productive. Maybe don’t be this obvious about it, though. That image caption sums up the prevailing attitude for me, really: don't be obvious that you're being more productive, especially if it goes against the grain. Better to toe the line and be less productive. There are many examples of the same phenomenon, beyond just napping.

ck425 9y ago

I've regularly taken naps at lunch too and found they make a big difference to afternoon productivity. I've found walking also has a similar effects, especially on grass. I normally do one or the other depending on how well I slept the night before. How long do people find most effective? I've found either 12 min or 30 min to be best for me. 30 min if I'm particularly tired, 12 min if not. If I go longer than 12 I get foggy for around 30 min after.

deskglass 9y ago

How do you take naps? It takes me an hour or two to fall asleep. I don't drink coffee.

raoulr 9y ago

Technique around here is to nap in the car. 15 minutes is usually enough to be refreshed.

pmarcelino 9y ago

I've been doing naps at work for the last year, since I started to try polyphasic sleep. Naps play an essential role in my polyphasic strategy. Those 30 minutes I spend sleeping after lunch save me some sleep hours during night. You can get some data points about naps and its importance in this book (which I recommend): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sleep-Myth-Hours-Power-Recharge/dp/0241975972/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1498658901&sr=8-2&keywords=sleep+book https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sleep-Myth-Hours-Power-Recharge/dp/...

beat 9y ago

One of the nice things about working from home, for me, is the ability to take the occasional nap when I'm dragging. It takes me about 15 minutes to get what I need... once I hit a half hour, it becomes counterproductive as I'm starting to "sleep" rather than "nap". Most nights, I do get sufficient sleep, but I need the occasional nap anyway.

inestyne 9y ago

This goes back to the days when people drank much more, at work, at lunch, etc... In a drinking culture, nodding off at your desk is a very very bad thing because it means you can't handle your liquor and this just could not be tolerated. Due to all the drinking, with management and clients, if you had a problem your were a liability. It's insane but it was another time. Not my generation but I've had conversations. Napping now, with the amount of real work we all do. The stress level we are willing to carry. It's just not anybody's business anymore.

ksk 9y ago

Do the companies who allow naps see it as a perk or a necessity? IOW, if you see naps as beneficial would you be OK with people taking them during a product release, or a service interruption?

twobyfour 9y ago
A nap being a "necessity" doesn't necessarily mean that taking it at whatever time you want is a necessity. Take the nap before or after the release; or after service is restored. It's not that complicated. FWIW, I don't see why it would have to be either a perk or a necessity, rather than a potential productivity booster that shouldn't be mandatory but can be beneficial to both the employee and the company. I would put things like allowing employees to listen to music on headphones while at work into the same bucket.
- ksk 9y ago
  >Take the nap before or after the release; or after service is restored. It's not that complicated. But if it is indeed a potential productivity booster, why would you skip the nap during service interruptions or product releases?
  - twobyfour 9y ago
    Because most people can still be productive without a nap, just marginally less productive. And in many cases time is money. Unless your service interruption is lasting all day (in which case you have bigger problems), it's much better for the company to get the site back up in 10 minutes than to wait 30 minutes for you to finish your nap and then get it back up in 8 minutes. Especially if you're losing $10K in revenue (or more) for every minute of downtime. Whereas the work you'll be doing once the service is back up can be done more efficiently or creatively or thoughtfully after a nap, but won't suffer from being pushed back half an hour. Releases, well, that depends on your release process.
    - ksk 9y ago
      I wasn't arguing one way or the other. I wanted to see if people thought it was a massive boost or just a marginal one. Seems like you think its marginal.

menzoic 9y ago

NYTimes HQ has 3 nap rooms on different floors. Not sure how many people knew about it.

sgspace 9y ago

Napping is fireable offense at my company. :(

SirLJ 9y ago

This is the greatest benefit of working from home (or second greatest if you have a lot of traffic to fight)... Around lunch, do a quick 30min exercise, protein shake, lay down, read a bit and fall asleep for 30 minute and you'll feel like you have one more productive day in the afternoon...

bakul 9y ago

I found that I don't feel sleepy after lunch if I work while standing up. But if I sit in a chair I can feel sleepy and a five minute nap makes for a more productive afternoon than fighting the sleepiness. Has anyone else observed this effect of curing after lunch sleepiness by standing up?

bitwize 9y ago

I'll take "fast tracks to a pink slip" for $800, Alex.

overcast 9y ago

I work about 5 minutes from my house. I get to go home, in silence, grab some food, and nap in my own bed. It makes ALL the difference in the world.

notadoc 9y ago

I don't understand napping, never have. Are you really that tired that you must sleep in the middle of the day? Maybe you just need better rest at night, or maybe you need to exercise more or eat better food? Unless you're a toddler then napping feels like compensating for something else. To each their own, if it works for you that's great.

endorphone 9y ago
Your first paragraph stands in contrast with the last. For some people napping optimizes their energy through the day.
ravenstine 9y ago
I do wonder the same thing. While I do need points in the day to just stop working and relax my brain, even daydream, I never feel the need for an actual nap. I have to wonder if diet and fitness have anything to do with it.
logicalmike 9y ago
In my opinion, napping becomes more essential with hard training. Even with sleeping well every night, I still find myself napping almost daily.
nandemo 9y ago
Did you read the article? > In a study published in Nature Neuroscience, researchers tested subjects on their perceptual performance four times throughout the day. Performance deteriorated with each test, but subjects who took a 30-minute nap between tests stopped the deterioration in performance, and those who took a 60-minute nap even reversed it.
Delmania 9y ago
> I don't understand napping, never have. Are you really that tired that you must sleep in the middle of the day? I exercise 5 times a day, and I eat a very clean diet. Not keto or paleo, but definitely low in carbs, high in fat and vegetables etc. I still sleep for 20 minutes at lunch. Human adults are tuned to feel sleepy after being up for 8 hours or so.

peterkshultz 9y ago

A study by NASA found that the optimal time for a nap was 26 minutes. The lengthy study can be found [here](http://www.jetlog.com/fileadmin/downloads/NASA_TM_94_108839.pdf http://www.jetlog.com/fileadmin/downloads/NASA_TM_94_108839....).

ltwdm 9y ago

I think age plays a role too- a few years ago I would have laughed at the idea of someone having to take a break and rest in the middle of an 8 hour period to regain energy. But I can now clearly see how that matters.

carrja99 9y ago

I quit energy drinks 3 months ago, taking a nap during lunch has been immensely important.

fixesCrashes 9y ago

And here I'm, on a holiday, pretending to provide IT support to five employees. The other 90+ employees chose not to work on holiday. I hate society...

nstricevic 9y ago

I nap for 20 minutes every day at work (at my previous company, for 4 years or so and now since I'm working remotely). Here are my steps for taking a nap: 1. Find a good place to nap. Use the same place every day. I used to nap under my desk on a lazy bag at my last job. 2. Quickly find a comfortable position. Quickly fix everything that bothers you (like watch on your wrist or anything else that's making you uncomfortable). 3. Start breathing from your stomach - not your upper torso. Your stomach should raise up and down, not your upper torso. 4. Relax your whole body. In the beginning, start by relaxing one by one region. First your toes. Then your lower leg, then your upper leg. Then the other leg... Until you relax your whole body. It should feel as your mind is separate from your body. Like it could go out of it. Your body should be completely numb. Later, as you progress, you will be able to relax your whole body with a few breaths. As if some force flows from your stomach and removes spasm from your body as you breath out. 5. Start removing thoughts from your brain. As you start thinking about something, just stop. Another thought comes in. Kill it. Just kill thoughts. You can think only about your breathing. Nothing else. That's it. With these steps, I'm able to feel a sleep in just a few moments. I use that all the time. Bonus: I have a special position that I "developed" that mitigates office sounds. I nap on my back, slightly turned on left side. I put my left ear on the pillow or a lazy bag. I put my right hand over my right ear and over my head. That way, a pillow isolates my left ear, while my right biceps isolates my right ear from sounds. I found this to be very effective. Good luck napping.

tassar 9y ago

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