9 ms·

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 boug

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.
      - ianai 9y ago
        I feel guilt for this where I work. It gets to 120f outside here during the summer. It's not great to run the car for just ac, but I benefit from the alone time.
        hueving 9y ago
        Cars consume very limited amounts of fuel idling so you shouldn't feel guilt for that anymore than you should feel guilt for driving to a restaurant on the way home.
        yomly 9y ago
        For some reason my brain thinks it's dangerous to run the AC when the car is stationary. I don't think this is the case and I'm complecting it with something else - is anyone able to shed some light?
        w458cmau 9y ago
        How do you think it is dangerous? ACs do not emit any gases themselves, so except for the CO2 produced by the engine to keep it running it should not be dangerous.
        yomly 9y ago
        I think CO and CO2 are what I'm thinking of. Maybe if you sat in your car in the garage...?
        jononor 9y ago
        CO and CO2 produced by the engine is going to come out of the exhaust at the back. Your AC will take in air from the front of the car. In a parking lot or other well ventilated areas, I don't see a big cause for concern.
        9y ago
- edouard-lopez 9y ago
  First, not all companies have the finances of Google. Then, offices are still busy when you take your nap. I do mine, in the open space and there is always conversations or movements around, but after a few minutes I don't hear them anymore. Usually I put a 15min alarm and wake after 12min, sometimes I need 30min.
  - Hydraulix989 9y ago
    I think the argument FOR napping is the financial one; if 20 minutes of napping gives more than 20 minutes of productivity/efficiency afterwards (which turns out it does, backed by numerous academic studies), then it is worth it. There's a few things in American culture, in particular, working against it though: our backwards cultural attitude that sleeping is considered "lazy" (USA is one of the most sleep-deprived population) and the fact that working on little sleep is falsely considered a "badge of honor," even though the occurrence of mistakes made by workers is MUCH higher when said workers are sleep deprived.
- Waterluvian 9y ago
  I nap in my car. There's not a single nappable spot at my company. And my car is 20 seconds away.
- adrianratnapala 9y ago
  I work just across the corridor from one of those Google nap rooms, but I don't feel right going inside. And then I end up nodding off in front of my monitor. But I must say that this only only happens when (a) I am doing something boring and (b) I didn't get much sleep at home. So while cat napping at work is probably better than fighting it, it is more a mitigation strategy than a preferred option.
- samsonradu 9y ago
  Google being Google is a bit different, but I'm sure there are a lot of companies where some low-productive employees who've been checking Facebook all day will point fingers at you for sleeping during the butt-sit hours.
- hrktb 9y ago
  I think quiet rooms or rest spaces are difficult to maintain when there's too few people using them. At one company it ended up being a temporary closet room with printer supply and all kind of stuff people randomly tossed in to clear the way. At my current company there's so few people using it it smells dusty and closeted to the point it's unusable to relax. ad-hoc places worked better for me, like small meeting rooms that are unused at noon, actual storage rooms that are actually very clean and tidy compared to temporary ones, or even a park bench when weather is nice enough
  - TeMPOraL 9y ago
    One of the reasons I like to come to work late and leave late - in the evening there's always a conference room available to hide in and do some productive work, and there's even a good chance that by 5PM, all my cow-orkers will be gone, so I'll have the whole office room for myself to either work or take a nap first and then continue to ~8 PM. My SO doesn't approve of this schedule though, so I do this only on days we're not going to see each other.
- w458cmau 9y ago
  Providing a quiet, disruption-free and hygienic environment for employees to sleep in seems like quite the commitment to make. I'm all for it, and can just the same understand why it would not happen in most environments.
  - speedplane 9y ago
    I can see how taking a break from the regular grind can help things, but not sure that naps are really the answer. Going to a buddy's office to shoot the breeze, or taking a walk around the block seem equally beneficial.
Hydraulix989 9y ago
Out of curiosity which car did you get that was nap friendly (if you don't mind sharing?)?
- rectang 9y ago
  A Prius. With the back seat half down, I fit just well enough. There are certainly other vehicles that would be better, but the Prius was adequate and nap-friendliness was only one of the criteria used to evaluate potential vehicles.
- TuringNYC 9y ago
  During my early consulting career, i'd often nap around 6pm before returning to work. I had different rental cars each week and almost any car works -- just recline the front seat all the way back and make sure to keep a pillow and eye-covers.
- cr0sh 9y ago
  Whatever you do, don't get a Jeep Wrangler, unless it's a four-door model or one of the longer wheelbase ones...
themodelplumber 9y ago
> My most productive, creative time was the hour or two in the late afternoon following the nap. This has also been my experience. I often take naps around the same time and find that the nap calms me naturally and sort of distances me from any anxieties surrounding a problem I'm trying to tackle. This makes it much easier to work at it some more. Separately I noticed that if I have any symptoms of depression (usually thoughts of despair), a nap like that can by itself often completely reverse the situation. Surprised, I did some research and was interested to find how much a lack of proper rest is associated with depression. So now the first item on my "feeling depressed" checklist is "try to take a nap".
- drrob 9y ago
  Incidentally, one of the (many) recommended none pharma treatments to depression is to stay awake for one night (don't go to bed at all), then go to bed the next night as usual (similar to jetlag prevention strategies I suppose). The idea is that the extreme tiredness when you do go to sleep resets your circadian rhythms and ensures deep rest. I've tried it, and it does kinda help.
  - vldx 9y ago
    For anyone interested -- this model is called Wake therapy. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake_therapy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake_therapy https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fighting-depression-by-staying-awake/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fighting-depressi... > In the new study, published online January 15 in the journal Translational Psychiatry, the scientists investigated whether this process is responsible for the antidepressant effects of sleep deprivation. Mice with depressivelike symptoms were administered three doses of a compound that triggers adenosine receptors, thus mimicking sleep deprivation. Although the mice continued to sleep normally, after 12 hours they showed a rapid improvement in mood and behavior, which lasted for 48 hours. > The results confirm that the adenosine buildup is responsible for the antidepressant effects of a lack of sleep. This finding points to a promising target for new drug development because it suggests that mimicking sleep deprivation chemically may offer the antidepressant benefits without the unwanted side effects of actually skipping sleep. Such an intervention could offer immediate relief from depression, in stark contrast with traditional antidepressants, which take six to eight weeks to kick in. Curious if it'll be mimicked somehow in the form of drugs in the future.
rorykoehler 9y ago
That's one of the main reasons I signed up for the gym. The other being the showers. I can bike to work and take a coffee nap in a hammock after lunch.
- spraak 9y ago
  Wow, your gym has hammocks?
  - rorykoehler 9y ago
    Only 2... no one seems to use them. They also have sun loungers by the pool which are well suited for napping.
- 3chelon 9y ago
  My old gym used to have "sleep pods" in a darkened room. I'd go for a half hour sleep at lunchtimes some days. Fanatastic, but they renovated the gym and removed them, and I canceled my membership.
euske 9y ago
More or less the same here. My average nap time is around 15 minutes. Then I need 5 min. or so to fully recover the awareness, and I feel completely reenergized. My nap is almost becoming a daily pattern now so I feel sleepy in afternoon even if I don't eat. I have no overtime either. Thanks to my employer who's understanding of this.
torrent-of-ions 9y ago
What car do you have? I tried to nap in the back of my Civic once, but it wasn't successful. Partly I felt self conscious that someone might come near my car and see me, though.
- notlowell 9y ago
  I'm not the original poster, but I used to do this in my minivan. When the weather was right, it was perfect.
agumonkey 9y ago
I knew a guy who refused to take a nap. Even if it costed him an afternoon of fighting gravity, trying to stay awake browsing websites and feeling utter guilt for wasting the whole afternoon. To him, napping was morally wrong, period. Something I can understand to a poing, if one guy allows himself to sleep while others are sweating it's bad. But he could nap 20 minutes, and enjoy creativity/productivity for hours and even stay 20 min longer (at the same hourly rate) after to pay back his employer so the numbers check out.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
hammock 9y ago
Why don't you do it anymore?
mrkipling 9y ago
I worked for a very small startup in London that embraced napping as part of their culture, some 8 years ago. It worked wonders (provided that you napped for 15-30 minutes at a time and didn't pass out for an hour or two). We even had a dark storage room with a sofa that was the designated nap area. Fast forward to the current day. That company no longer exists (it was acquired), but the co-founders went on to create another company that is doing very well. I made the decision to go freelance at the end of last year and as fate would have it I am currently working for the new company. Napping is still encouraged. They're one of the most productive, driven teams that I've ever had the pleasure of working for. Napping is good.
- amelius 9y ago
  How do you ensure that you sleep exactly 15-30 minutes, when falling asleep could take anywhere between 0-30 minutes?
  - humb01dt 9y ago
    If you just set your timer for when you want to wake up and close your eyes, you'd be amazed how quickly you can doze off. For me it helps if it is dark, quiet, and cool.
  - Bartweiss 9y ago
    It's tricky, but there are a few options. - Gold standard: this is a perfect use case for sleep tracking. "Wake me in the sooner of 1 hour or 30 minutes of sleep". - Upper bound timing. If I can't start a nap within 15-20 minutes, it's probably one I don't need. So a timer set for 35 min would suffice to get me some reasonable duration. This fails if you might need 30+ minutes. - Caffeine naps. Drink a cup of coffee, start your nap, you'll be up in <40 minutes as the caffeine hits. This doesn't guarantee you'll get a lengthy nap, but it helps ensure you don't wake up groggy. - Practice. I struggle to nap currently because it's not routine, I usually can't sleep quickly unless I'm exhausted. But I spent a good 6 months getting healthy sleep amounts with a daily nap, and I was usually out within 5 minutes when it was expected.
abhgh 9y ago
I did exactly the same. Not on a regular basis though, but on days when work was tiring I used to head out to the parking lot and sleep in the back of my car. Typically 20 min. That made me much more productive than I should have been w/o the nap. When one of my co-workers found out, he started borrowing my car keys (he didn't own a car then) to sleep in my car :) - apparently, he thought it was a great idea.

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.
    - ianai 9y ago
      I feel guilt for this where I work. It gets to 120f outside here during the summer. It's not great to run the car for just ac, but I benefit from the alone time.
      - hueving 9y ago
        Cars consume very limited amounts of fuel idling so you shouldn't feel guilt for that anymore than you should feel guilt for driving to a restaurant on the way home.
        yomly 9y ago
        For some reason my brain thinks it's dangerous to run the AC when the car is stationary. I don't think this is the case and I'm complecting it with something else - is anyone able to shed some light?
        w458cmau 9y ago
        How do you think it is dangerous? ACs do not emit any gases themselves, so except for the CO2 produced by the engine to keep it running it should not be dangerous.
        yomly 9y ago
        I think CO and CO2 are what I'm thinking of. Maybe if you sat in your car in the garage...?
        jononor 9y ago
        CO and CO2 produced by the engine is going to come out of the exhaust at the back. Your AC will take in air from the front of the car. In a parking lot or other well ventilated areas, I don't see a big cause for concern.
        9y ago
edouard-lopez 9y ago
First, not all companies have the finances of Google. Then, offices are still busy when you take your nap. I do mine, in the open space and there is always conversations or movements around, but after a few minutes I don't hear them anymore. Usually I put a 15min alarm and wake after 12min, sometimes I need 30min.
- Hydraulix989 9y ago
  I think the argument FOR napping is the financial one; if 20 minutes of napping gives more than 20 minutes of productivity/efficiency afterwards (which turns out it does, backed by numerous academic studies), then it is worth it. There's a few things in American culture, in particular, working against it though: our backwards cultural attitude that sleeping is considered "lazy" (USA is one of the most sleep-deprived population) and the fact that working on little sleep is falsely considered a "badge of honor," even though the occurrence of mistakes made by workers is MUCH higher when said workers are sleep deprived.
Waterluvian 9y ago
I nap in my car. There's not a single nappable spot at my company. And my car is 20 seconds away.
adrianratnapala 9y ago
I work just across the corridor from one of those Google nap rooms, but I don't feel right going inside. And then I end up nodding off in front of my monitor. But I must say that this only only happens when (a) I am doing something boring and (b) I didn't get much sleep at home. So while cat napping at work is probably better than fighting it, it is more a mitigation strategy than a preferred option.
samsonradu 9y ago
Google being Google is a bit different, but I'm sure there are a lot of companies where some low-productive employees who've been checking Facebook all day will point fingers at you for sleeping during the butt-sit hours.
hrktb 9y ago
I think quiet rooms or rest spaces are difficult to maintain when there's too few people using them. At one company it ended up being a temporary closet room with printer supply and all kind of stuff people randomly tossed in to clear the way. At my current company there's so few people using it it smells dusty and closeted to the point it's unusable to relax. ad-hoc places worked better for me, like small meeting rooms that are unused at noon, actual storage rooms that are actually very clean and tidy compared to temporary ones, or even a park bench when weather is nice enough
- TeMPOraL 9y ago
  One of the reasons I like to come to work late and leave late - in the evening there's always a conference room available to hide in and do some productive work, and there's even a good chance that by 5PM, all my cow-orkers will be gone, so I'll have the whole office room for myself to either work or take a nap first and then continue to ~8 PM. My SO doesn't approve of this schedule though, so I do this only on days we're not going to see each other.
w458cmau 9y ago
Providing a quiet, disruption-free and hygienic environment for employees to sleep in seems like quite the commitment to make. I'm all for it, and can just the same understand why it would not happen in most environments.
- speedplane 9y ago
  I can see how taking a break from the regular grind can help things, but not sure that naps are really the answer. Going to a buddy's office to shoot the breeze, or taking a walk around the block seem equally beneficial.

Hydraulix989 9y ago

Out of curiosity which car did you get that was nap friendly (if you don't mind sharing?)?

rectang 9y ago
A Prius. With the back seat half down, I fit just well enough. There are certainly other vehicles that would be better, but the Prius was adequate and nap-friendliness was only one of the criteria used to evaluate potential vehicles.
TuringNYC 9y ago
During my early consulting career, i'd often nap around 6pm before returning to work. I had different rental cars each week and almost any car works -- just recline the front seat all the way back and make sure to keep a pillow and eye-covers.
cr0sh 9y ago
Whatever you do, don't get a Jeep Wrangler, unless it's a four-door model or one of the longer wheelbase ones...

themodelplumber 9y ago

> My most productive, creative time was the hour or two in the late afternoon following the nap. This has also been my experience. I often take naps around the same time and find that the nap calms me naturally and sort of distances me from any anxieties surrounding a problem I'm trying to tackle. This makes it much easier to work at it some more. Separately I noticed that if I have any symptoms of depression (usually thoughts of despair), a nap like that can by itself often completely reverse the situation. Surprised, I did some research and was interested to find how much a lack of proper rest is associated with depression. So now the first item on my "feeling depressed" checklist is "try to take a nap".

drrob 9y ago
Incidentally, one of the (many) recommended none pharma treatments to depression is to stay awake for one night (don't go to bed at all), then go to bed the next night as usual (similar to jetlag prevention strategies I suppose). The idea is that the extreme tiredness when you do go to sleep resets your circadian rhythms and ensures deep rest. I've tried it, and it does kinda help.
- vldx 9y ago
  For anyone interested -- this model is called Wake therapy. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake_therapy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake_therapy https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fighting-depression-by-staying-awake/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fighting-depressi... > In the new study, published online January 15 in the journal Translational Psychiatry, the scientists investigated whether this process is responsible for the antidepressant effects of sleep deprivation. Mice with depressivelike symptoms were administered three doses of a compound that triggers adenosine receptors, thus mimicking sleep deprivation. Although the mice continued to sleep normally, after 12 hours they showed a rapid improvement in mood and behavior, which lasted for 48 hours. > The results confirm that the adenosine buildup is responsible for the antidepressant effects of a lack of sleep. This finding points to a promising target for new drug development because it suggests that mimicking sleep deprivation chemically may offer the antidepressant benefits without the unwanted side effects of actually skipping sleep. Such an intervention could offer immediate relief from depression, in stark contrast with traditional antidepressants, which take six to eight weeks to kick in. Curious if it'll be mimicked somehow in the form of drugs in the future.

rorykoehler 9y ago

That's one of the main reasons I signed up for the gym. The other being the showers. I can bike to work and take a coffee nap in a hammock after lunch.

spraak 9y ago
Wow, your gym has hammocks?
- rorykoehler 9y ago
  Only 2... no one seems to use them. They also have sun loungers by the pool which are well suited for napping.
3chelon 9y ago
My old gym used to have "sleep pods" in a darkened room. I'd go for a half hour sleep at lunchtimes some days. Fanatastic, but they renovated the gym and removed them, and I canceled my membership.

euske 9y ago

More or less the same here. My average nap time is around 15 minutes. Then I need 5 min. or so to fully recover the awareness, and I feel completely reenergized. My nap is almost becoming a daily pattern now so I feel sleepy in afternoon even if I don't eat. I have no overtime either. Thanks to my employer who's understanding of this.

torrent-of-ions 9y ago

What car do you have? I tried to nap in the back of my Civic once, but it wasn't successful. Partly I felt self conscious that someone might come near my car and see me, though.

notlowell 9y ago
I'm not the original poster, but I used to do this in my minivan. When the weather was right, it was perfect.

agumonkey 9y ago

I knew a guy who refused to take a nap. Even if it costed him an afternoon of fighting gravity, trying to stay awake browsing websites and feeling utter guilt for wasting the whole afternoon. To him, napping was morally wrong, period. Something I can understand to a poing, if one guy allows himself to sleep while others are sweating it's bad. But he could nap 20 minutes, and enjoy creativity/productivity for hours and even stay 20 min longer (at the same hourly rate) after to pay back his employer so the numbers check out.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

hammock 9y ago

Why don't you do it anymore?

mrkipling 9y ago

I worked for a very small startup in London that embraced napping as part of their culture, some 8 years ago. It worked wonders (provided that you napped for 15-30 minutes at a time and didn't pass out for an hour or two). We even had a dark storage room with a sofa that was the designated nap area. Fast forward to the current day. That company no longer exists (it was acquired), but the co-founders went on to create another company that is doing very well. I made the decision to go freelance at the end of last year and as fate would have it I am currently working for the new company. Napping is still encouraged. They're one of the most productive, driven teams that I've ever had the pleasure of working for. Napping is good.

amelius 9y ago
How do you ensure that you sleep exactly 15-30 minutes, when falling asleep could take anywhere between 0-30 minutes?
- humb01dt 9y ago
  If you just set your timer for when you want to wake up and close your eyes, you'd be amazed how quickly you can doze off. For me it helps if it is dark, quiet, and cool.
- Bartweiss 9y ago
  It's tricky, but there are a few options. - Gold standard: this is a perfect use case for sleep tracking. "Wake me in the sooner of 1 hour or 30 minutes of sleep". - Upper bound timing. If I can't start a nap within 15-20 minutes, it's probably one I don't need. So a timer set for 35 min would suffice to get me some reasonable duration. This fails if you might need 30+ minutes. - Caffeine naps. Drink a cup of coffee, start your nap, you'll be up in <40 minutes as the caffeine hits. This doesn't guarantee you'll get a lengthy nap, but it helps ensure you don't wake up groggy. - Practice. I struggle to nap currently because it's not routine, I usually can't sleep quickly unless I'm exhausted. But I spent a good 6 months getting healthy sleep amounts with a daily nap, and I was usually out within 5 minutes when it was expected.

abhgh 9y ago

I did exactly the same. Not on a regular basis though, but on days when work was tiring I used to head out to the parking lot and sleep in the back of my car. Typically 20 min. That made me much more productive than I should have been w/o the nap. When one of my co-workers found out, he started borrowing my car keys (he didn't own a car then) to sleep in my car :) - apparently, he thought it was a great idea.