Nap time ~ June 27, 2002

David Heiller

No, I’m not writing an article about my cute little kids. I’ll leave that to Julie. (I like your columns, Julie!)

This is much more controversial. Something befitting a cigar-chomping editor who keeps a bottle of whiskey in his desk drawer.

That leaves me out, too.

This camping stuff is exhausting business.

I want to talk about the delicate subject of naps.

I am sold on naps, and it’s time to proclaim my faith, publicly, without shame or fear of ridicule.

For some reason, our society has given naps a bum rap. Don’t believe me? The next time you see someone who is dog-tired in the middle of the day suggest that he or she go take a nap.

He’ll either look at you like you’re crazy. Hey, it ain’t macho to take a little-bitty nap.

Or he’ll smile self-consciously and say, “Yeah right,” as he pours himself another cup of coffee.

I must admit I still have a little of that latter chap in me. But more and more I am losing that worry about what people might think.

"Taking a 20" with Rosie standing guard.

I call it “Taking a 20.” It sounds better than “Taking a nap,” because, yes, the word nap does carry a bit of Sesame Street with it.

“Take a 20,” now that has a ring to it!

It refers to 20 minutes. That’s all it takes to refresh me. It’s a miracle in a way.

Many afternoons, usually at about 2 p.m., I get groggy. I type more slowly. Words don’t come out quite the way I want them to. I even start to walk funny. I’ve been that way for as long as I can recall.

Sleep reading. Is this what
happens if you don't "take a 20"?

This trait really hit home after I had eye surgery on June 5. Every afternoon, fatigue would hit me like a hammer. My eye was telling my body I needed to rest, and I figured I had better heed that advice. Doctors orders, you know. So whether at work or at home, I would lie down. Twenty minutes later, I would wake up feeling like a new person. It was a good reminder of something I’ve known for a long time—that naps really make a positive difference in my day.

And 20 minutes is all it takes. I lie down, look at my watch, and tell myself I’m going to wake up in 20 minutes, and I do just that, almost to the minute. The body has a built-in clock.

Often I don’t even sleep in my naps. I can feel my body start to drift and relax, like I’m doing a back float in water. That’s all it takes.

A lot of people are discovering the benefits of naps. Some progressive companies are even endorsing nap times, and providing places for employees to do it.

The National Sleep Foundation estimates that drowsy workers cost U.S. employers an estimated $18 billion in lost productivity every year. (I just looked that up on the internet.)

We LOVE to take
photos of sleeping people.

There’s even a book on the subject, by William and Camille Anthony, called The Art of Napping at Work. This past spring they promoted the Monday after the Daylight Savings; Time change as the first National Workplace Napping Day, touting a 20-minute workplace nap for “the amazing effect it has on productivity, alertness and well being.” (Another bit of internet trivia.)

In our case, we have a cot in our darkroom that works great.

Some countries have a built in nap time in their day. When I taught school in Morocco from 1977 to 1979, every day from 12 to 2, students and teachers would leave the school and go home, eat lunch, and take a nap. It really made a lot of sense for getting through the rest the day.

So there, I’ve said it. Naps are good. If you a nap-taker, you know what I mean. If you aren’t give it a try. Take a 20.