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Take Naps at Work

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Re: Take Naps at Work

#261

Post by agumonkey »

imchillyb wrote: post #259
agumonkey wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah, it's not that simple. It cannot be that simple (but that's just my intuition of course). I do have a different mindset when my blood flow it strong after sport but it doesn't kick the creativity. On the other hand, travelling, or even taking the train, does trigger the wonder-sense.

> It cannot be that simple @agumonkey Occam's Razor: The (simplest) explanation with the fewest assumptions tends to be the correct one. It's almost always that simple. Also, when you're travelling or on the train, and your wonder sense opens, you are relaxed. Less constriction to the arteries and blood vessels. As with lying horizontal, increased blood flow activates the brain.

There's simple and simple. In biology the number of dimensions is large, which one is simplified ? blood flow ? visual stimulus ? change of locus (again more stimulus since memories cannot help parsing reality).

Re: Take Naps at Work

#262

Post by Implicated »

dkersten wrote: post #211
niuzeta wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you resist not sleeping the next day? I know I would be exhausted the afternoon with little capacity for rational thought, and likely pass out by 7-8 PM, ruining the attempt.

I found that when I do all-nighters (although it's been a while since I've done one), I get a "second wind" of sorts from mid morning until late afternoon. So if I want to make sure I don't go to bed too early, it's only really the last two hours that are hard, although they can be very hard (especially since you don't want to drink caffeine or anything like that since that would affect the sleep quality). Fresh air…

Similar to you, I try to go for a hike/long walk in the morning/afternoon when I get to struggling with sleepiness (while attempting to make it to the next evening of an all-nighter).

Re: Take Naps at Work

#264

Post by adrianoconnor »

amelius wrote: post #196
mrkipling wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

How do you ensure that you sleep exactly 15-30 minutes, when falling asleep could take anywhere between 0-30 minutes?

According to the book 'Night School' by Richard Wiseman, just lying down for a nap, even if you don't manage to sleep, is still beneficial.

Re: Take Naps at Work

#265

Post by codesnik »

benburleson wrote: post #219
Bartweiss wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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,…

Glad to see I'm not the only one using the "Caffeine nap." I was lucky enough to work in a place that actually had a dedicated nap room that I utilized regularly. It was a holdover from the old astronomy days when astronomers would spend long hours on site to complete their research.

do you feel ok afterwards? coffee makes me sleepy sometimes, somehow, but sleeping on caffeine doesn't make me refreshed at all.

Re: Take Naps at Work

#266

Post by nstricevic »

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.

Re: Take Naps at Work

#267

Post by thatwebdude »

gk1 wrote: post #187
booleandilemma wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I know of a startup that does group lunch every day. Even the remote people join (through Hangouts). I found it pleasant... It strengthens the team _and_ forces everyone to take their eyes away from a screen, slow down, and get out of the weeds. They go on a group hike every afternoon for the same reason. I don't know how long they'll be able to keep it up as they grow, but I thought it was great.

The remote people don't get to take their eyes off the screen...

Re: Take Naps at Work

#268

Post by Double_a_92 »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #175
drrob wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Interesting. I naturally gravitated towards both of those methods! When I feel lots of anxiety that can't go away, I'll take a nap - there's a good chance it'll reset my "anxiety counter", letting me deal with whatever issue that was stressing me out. When I'm low on mood / even more anxious, I'll stay awake for one night - the extreme tiredness attenuates the anxiety, and at the end of the next day, I get a good sle…

> the extreme tiredness attenuates the anxiety

Can confirm. My morning anxiety (I got nervous when I had to leave the house) has gotten better since I started sleeping only 4-5 hours per night and stopped drinking coffee in the morning.

Re: Take Naps at Work

#269

Post by Double_a_92 »

vidarh wrote: post #139
samsonradu wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Try to take some commuter trains in London, or buses, and you'll find plenty of people napping. At one job I preferred to take the bus to the tube even though the tube would be faster, because I enjoyed the longer unbroken nap. There's even a comedy sketch (don't remember with who) about how London commuters are seemingly able to enter the tube, grab hold of one of the bars, and proceed to seemingly sleep standing fo…

> sleep ... for the exact right number of stops

The trick is that you learn to automatically "wake up" everytime the bus (or train) stops. It's almost subconscious, your eyes blink 1-2 times to check where you are. And if it's the last station before you have to get out you get a small adrenaline boost :D

Re: Take Naps at Work

#270

Post by Delmania »

notadoc wrote: post #222

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.

> 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.

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