I was chatting with two friends of mine who also work from home, as consultants or running their own businesses and for some reason, we stumbled onto the subject of napping. Yes, that simple, restorative process of taking a little siesta midmorning or afternoon. We had a little debate over whether or not it was one of the benefits of working for yourself in a business where your cozy bed was beckoning just down the hall, and whether napping helped or hurt business…
I absolutely love naps, but I’ve got to get all my work done BEFORE I nap. I can dangle a little afternoon nap in my sunny room as a motivator for myself to get up early and work hard during the day, but once I’ve had a good snooze, it’s hard for me to get back into work mode. While I tend to lag in the mid-afternoon in terms of energy level and then feel reinvigorated in the evenings, if I take a nap during that naturally slow time, I want to go out on the town or socialize over dinner afterwards, not go back to my desk and computer.
Others find that a brief midday nap energizes them and they are bouncing and eager to get back to work, while still others may not be able to nap at all or have a philosophical opposition to napping during the work day. I admit, I have a little of that “napping guilt” potential–since my income is directly related to the work I do and my productivity output, unless I’ve had a really great income-generating day, I feel guilty letting myself take a nap–even if I am feeling tired or under the weather. Since I’m a single parent with no one to fall back on or help in terms of income and responsibility, I have to feel my naps are well-earned and justified before I let myself catch forty winks.
How about you? Are you a napper? Do you take advantage of working from home to squeeze a little snooze into the work day?