Asleep on the Job

By Matt Wood in News on Jan 16, 2007 4:09PM

Chicagoist has learned a few lessons since we started spending more time around kids, but none more powerful than the importance of naps. A child's getting a few minutes of sleep at the right time during the day can mean the difference between having the perfect kid or a wet cat trapped in a burlap sack.

Adults don't tend to claw out your eyeballs when they need sleep; instead they just trudge around like zombies. Today, the Tribune reports on the problem of sleep-deprivation in the workplace, highlighting a few sleep studies and discussing the cultural attitudes toward workers' taking naps. One statistic we found surprising is that the effect of pulling an all-nighter or getting by on just four or five hours a night is equivalent to being legally drunk. Try justifying your three-martini lunch with that argument.

One solution would be for companies to start letting workers nap on the job; however, this isn't likely to happen in the American-style, always-on corporate culture. It's too bad, because some productivity experts swear by the power of just a 20-minute nap. Chicagoist can attest that it's amazing how refreshing a cat nap like that can be, both for kids and grown-ups alike.

The Trib article also points out that some people are avoiding the taboo about snoozing at their desks by sneaking off to take naps in their cars, bathroom stalls, or behind locked office doors. We're interested as to how many of our readers manage to sneak a little shut-eye during the day. Do you do it on the down low, or can you bust out a pillow and blankie and saw logs right at your desk?