Do I dare address the elephant in the room? I should, right? Okay, and so I will. You’ve convinced me. There was a very important holiday recently: March 11^th. You, along with most of us, probably slept right through it… I am talking about National Napping Day of course! It actually has it origins in following Daylight Savings Time because of the lost hour of sleep. Hey, we all love to nap when we can, especially during stormy weekend afternoons in front of a fire.

 

An Observation

From my observation point, there are so many tired people out there that this holiday truly needs to be celebrated.  People are sleeping less, the highways are busy pretty much all day, and starting at 5:00 AM I see passengers dozing off in the backseat. The crazy balancing act between work and family, not to mention every day stresses and commuting, all contribute to tiredness. I remember once finding a co-worker under his desk sound asleep and snoring quite loudly! Napping is a hot issue and also a national holiday of sorts!

 

It is a bit surprising that companies like Hallmark haven’t capitalized on this special day.  Think of the messages they could come up with like: “When I’m with you… you put me to sleep” or “Hangin’ with you is such a snore!”  I could see Hershey coming out with foil-wrapped chocolate “Z’s.” Starbucks could offer a special “Sleepy Time Brew” or offer free decaffeinated coffee all day.

 

When I used to work in the typical 9-5 world, I would be at the gym by 5:00 AM then start my commute to work. It was a great way to begin the day and I felt quite energized.  The problem was by the time 2:30 PM hit all I wanted was to close my eyes and doze off.  I decided to remedy this condition and would brown bag it for lunch, eat at my desk and then run a 30-minute errand during lunch time.  The errand happened to be driving to a nearby strip mall to take a 30-minute cat nap.  That nap made all the difference in the balance of the day for me. People are getting up earlier but still going to bed at their usual time, which for many is 10:00 PM +. Five to six hours of sleep just doesn’t cut it! There is nothing good about feeling sleepy at work.

 

As part of recognizing National Nap Day I propose that corporations across the U.S. dedicate space within their office environment for the sole purpose of napping. Companies could make it 100% acceptable and normal to nap during the day at work!  Research even supports that a short nap can improve the human condition on several levels.  National Napping Day sure sounds like a funny notion, but in reality corporate napping might just be a game changer benefit for everyone.