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Take Naps at Work

nytimes.com

231–240 of 282 posts

Re: Take Naps at Work

#231
post #55

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.

That's quite odd. All the Germans I know are fastidious about getting proper breaks/time off/holidays/etc.

Re: Take Naps at Work

#232

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.

That's brilliant. But how do you safeguard against a defector reporting against the rest of the group?

Taking naps is seen as a good thing, it means you are tired from too much working. In fact, some people fake it.

Re: Take Naps at Work

#233
post #197

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?

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.

Re: Take Naps at Work

#234
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.

Re: Take Naps at Work

#235
post #13

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…

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.

Re: Take Naps at Work

#236
post #197

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?

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…

>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?

Re: Take Naps at Work

#237

>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?

My company does this thing where all of the people in IT go out to get food together in sync, and then bring it back and eat in the conference room like it's a cafeteria and like they're back in school. I'm the only person who leaves the office during my lunch hour, alone. I get funny looks, and my coworkers sometimes ask me "where have you been?" It's a weird company culture and I'm not sure how much longer I'll be…

Is it uncommon in your country to have kitchen areas where you can prepare/heat food and eat it? At work maybe half of the office bring or buy food and eat together. Some make a quick salad. Others eat together at a restaurant or alone.

Re: Take Naps at Work

#238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know, i would see myself as fairly introverted but i like the team i am working with and having lunch with them together is usually fun. There is no force though, i don't have to do it. Some of my coworkers also became friends, so i hardly see it as "team building" but i guess it benefits the team too. You seem pretty isolated from your team, which probably makes you leave earlier than people who are well con…

>You seem pretty isolated from your team, which probably makes you leave earlier than people I become obsessed and enthralled with the work itself, sometimes to the point of wanting to work 12-16 hour days to solve deeper problems that are bothersome. Working short days has never been an issue for me. This is exactly what I mean by projection. You would want to leave early if you felt isolated. But I enjoy it and wan…

By leaving earlier i meant the job as a whole, because on average people that tend to isolate themselves from the team are less invested in the vision of the product and the team, which is why founders usually do these crap events (which i hate too). Not saying this is the case for you, it's just what i've seen in the past.

I am definitely not extroverted, i get nervous before meetings and team building events and they drain a lot of my energy and concentration during the day. It's just when working remotely for years, sometimes i didn't talk to anyone for days and that can get unhealthy after some time. I also just enjoy discussing technical issues with coworkers.

Not saying you are doing it wrong, god forbid. In my early thirties now I definitely would not work 12-16hour days anymore as an employee without being a shareholder though.

Re: Take Naps at Work

#239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>You seem pretty isolated from your team, which probably makes you leave earlier than people I become obsessed and enthralled with the work itself, sometimes to the point of wanting to work 12-16 hour days to solve deeper problems that are bothersome. Working short days has never been an issue for me. This is exactly what I mean by projection. You would want to leave early if you felt isolated. But I enjoy it and wan…

By leaving earlier i meant the job as a whole, because on average people that tend to isolate themselves from the team are less invested in the vision of the product and the team, which is why founders usually do these crap events (which i hate too). Not saying this is the case for you, it's just what i've seen in the past. I am definitely not extroverted, i get nervous before meetings and team building events and th…

>It's just when working remotely for years, sometimes i didn't talk to anyone for days and that can get unhealthy after some time.

Sure, I agree with you there, and I never go days without talking to anyone. I just don't especially need to talk to many people at work. Just read my code, it's all there.

>In my early thirties now I definitely would not work 12-16hour days anymore as an employee without being a shareholder though.

Why? Sitting at home is more boring, I have more influence at work and the changes I roll out have more impact. Plus I tend to learn more on the job, become more crucial at the company, develop more skills, yada yada.

Re: Take Naps at Work

#240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wat. What kind of an adult doesn't have stuff to do on lunch? I usually do some of these: work out, get my dry cleaning, run home to grab packages, make lunch, take a nap, shower real quick after a work out, go to the dentist, etc. If I was purely locked in to 45 hours a week with my coworkers id be job hunting.

What about adults having shorter hours? Standard work-week in my country is 37.5 hours. If I were so cramped on time that I had to stress to get shit done in the middle of my job-day I'd be job hunting.

Good luck job hunting for a job like that in the US. Here standard vacation is 1-2 weeks per year and getting your 8 hours in between 8am and 5pm is also the norm.

Sadly we don't have the luxury of having such flexible hours and large vacation packages as is standard in foreign countries.

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