Sleeping at work
 

I recently started working for an office furniture dealer. I'm the "network coordinator," which means I type stuff in a computer and print stuff out, and occasionally email stuff to people. I also answer the phone when it rings.

The situation is this: I get to work at 8 in the morning and work until 5. This is a small business, a very relaxed workplace environment. The local easy-listening-no-repeat-work-day radio station is playing all the time. The owners are only here monday through wednesday if that; the rest of the week I'm sort of left to my own devices. I want to start napping at work, since I'm noticing that I'm tired a lot of the time. I am wondering a few things:

1) Does anyone have any experience doing this? Can you provide tips?

2) Can anyone think of good excuses if I'm caught asleep? Narcolepsy, etc?

3) Does anyone have any experience with good pillows that are discreet and if possible look like work products? Like a pillow shaped like a giant binder filled with stupid papers would be amazing.

Here is an approximate diagram of my office situation:

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/8...oorplansw7.png

The owner's office will be empty on the days I attempt to take sleep breaks. Desk #1 belongs to a guy who's usually out of the office and at any rate wouldn't care / notice. Desks #2 and #3 are people with whom I regularly interact, give work to / get work from, etc. They will be the most likely causes of interruption. Desks #4 and #5 are two of the design people, and they pretty much keep to themselves. All of the black lines indicate cubicle walls, about 5' high maybe. The only exception is the L shape that makes up my desk; that's only about 3-4' high (I'm terrible at estimating heights fwiw)

Now, my desk is basically a big L-shape, with a wall going about 1' over the desk surface on the outer edge. Here is a photograph of my desk:

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/3667/desklolmg8.jpg

Is my best bet to sleep sitting up with my head on a pillow? Or go underneath the actual desk? I can easily lay down totaly stretched out under my desk. If I brought a small dark colored blanket and pillow it would be fairly discreet. The pros and cons of each

<u>Sleep in chair</u>
Pros:
-Easier to snap back to "work" if I hear someone coming
-Only requires 1 small pillow instead of a pillow and blanket
Cons:
-Much less comfortable
-More likely to be noticed since more of me will be visible to a passerby

<u>Sleep under desk</u>
Pros:
-Much more relaxing and comfortable
-Less likely to be noticed, since a glance over at my desk will not reveal my location
Cons:
-If I am discovered, it will be almost impossible to pretend I was doing something other than sleeping
-I will have to bring a blanket or something, I'm not sleeping on the floor
-I could possibly electrocute myself (there are wires and stuff down there)


Also, to hopefully avoid the typical nitty responses: yes I get all my work done, all of it very early in fact. I just don't have that much to do. The network stuff is simple and fast and I can get through a week's work in a day or so quite easily. I've already read 20+ full length books since I've started here. Sleep is the next frontier.

What do you think?

Re: Sleeping at work
 

This has got to be a level right?

Re: Sleeping at work
 

[ QUOTE ]
This has got to be a level right?

[/ QUOTE ]

Nope, I seriously want to catch up on some Zs. Not more than 1-2 hours a day weds-fri though, so not like all the time, but snagging an hour in the morning and then one in the afternoon would be amazing.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

Great post! I say go for it. If caught, call it a "power nap"

Re: Sleeping at work
 

This will get you fired so quick.

Your coworkers won't appreciate your shirking.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

Ick. Clean out your wastebasket! [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

ETA: I'm assuming you're in the US, and if so, this is generally a bad idea, as kipin indicated.

If you want to pursue this, I recommend setting up a lathe in your office...it should be just about the right height to rest your head on, and if you get caught, just tell them you were turning out some office furniture and dozed off.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

[ QUOTE ]
This will get you fired so quick.

Your coworkers won't appreciate your shirking.

[/ QUOTE ]

The thing is genuinely won't be shirking anything. They really don't care if I sit around and read all day, or go on 2+2, or play scrabble online, or whatever. I do all my work well before it's expected. Obviously they'd be displeased, but it isn't as bad as it sounds.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

[ QUOTE ]
Ick. Clean out your wastebasket! [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Somebody comes like Friday evenings to clean it out, I just amassed an unusual amount of trash this week for some reason.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

Goddamn mbillie, does anyone empty your trash?

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j3...k2/mbillie.jpg

Re: Sleeping at work
 

You found my anal lube [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

Here's one thought I had as far as excuses go: change my last name to Billienandez, pretend to be a Mexican and claim that I'm taking Siesta and firing me is discrimination. Not sure they'd buy it though.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

Re: Sleeping at work
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
This will get you fired so quick.

Your coworkers won't appreciate your shirking.

[/ QUOTE ]

The thing is genuinely won't be shirking anything. They really don't care if I sit around and read all day, or go on 2+2, or play scrabble online, or whatever. I do all my work well before it's expected. Obviously they'd be displeased, but it isn't as bad as it sounds.

[/ QUOTE ]

If my employees have their work done, they can dick off, that's great, but there's an expectation that they be available to work. Playing scrabble/2p2ing doesn't stop you from answering an email or phone call. Sleeping sure as [censored] does.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

The phone ringing would wake me up though. I'm not talking like hibernation, just some power naps to recharge.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

Sleep under your desk, if caught say you dropped your pen.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

I'm upset I can't find a picture on Google of George on Seinfeld from the episode "The Nap" [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Re: Sleeping at work
 

nice setup

Re: Sleeping at work
 

This is ridiculous your gonna get caught. You may aswell just come out and say ''hey everybody Ive finished my work I'm now jus gonna catch a few Z's. If youve got a problem with that, you can take your problem, turn it sideways, AND SHOVE IT STRAIGHT UP YOUR CANDY ASS.''

Re: Sleeping at work
 

Let me just put one thing to rest: I'm not automatically going to get caught. Nobody's going to walk around and look under my desk if I'm gone for a little bit; they'll assume I went out for a smoke, am in the bathroom, etc. If I keep the naps to an hour or less at a time, there's no reason I shouldn't be able to get away with this. I sometimes go 3 or 4 hours straight without interacting with anyone else in the office.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

i had 2 jobs wehre i would nap at work.

1. i worked in a cubicle. i was a multimedia developer at the time. first job out of college. it was boring, and i didn't have much to do. my back was to the opening and often time i'd have to run 30 min training programs to check for bugs. i made them so they would just run right though instead of having to click the 'go forward' button. it just looked like i was watching the program

2. i had an office where i could nap under my desk. when someone would open the door they'd just see i wasn't in and leave.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

If there's a warehouse at your location, that is the place to catch some z's.

I sold TV and audio equipment in college. Around the holidays we'd get large shipments of stock in. One night I was told to grab someone off the sales floor to inventory some Sony product. That took about 10 minutes. We arranged the boxes so that we could get between them and played cribbage in between the stacks of Sony's all night.

"Hitting the Sony's" became our code for ducking into the warehouse for a nap. Rearrange a few boxes, carve out a spot, and sleep the workday away.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

Is proposing to get a full wall in front of you out of the question? If you can do that, you can move your comp to the corner where your back would be to the opening of the cube and you can catch ur snoozes.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

i knew a guy in highschool who worked in a warehouse and he said they had large boxes filled with toilet paper rolls. he would empty half of the box, crawl in and take a nap.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

If you're not going to be noticed away from your desk, go sleep in the toilets, sitting on the closed toilet seat, leaning against the wall. I have done this at times when I was dead tired from playing poker all night, but it was in my lunchbreak, and it made me feel like a tramp. Not very comfortable, either.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

Hopefully you don't snore or roll around a lot.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

Done this many a time, using both methods you suggested. First off, it really doesnt help that much. If anything you get more tired because you doze in and out of sleep and are paranoid about getting caught. So keep that in mind.

Sitting up is definitely the best way to do it, because the worst that happens is somebody comes in and sees you and makes a joke like, "Hows that nap going?" and you will respond with "Oh noz I had a wet dream" (happened to me many times at work/school). If you know that nobody will come in your cube and use your comp if you are under the desk, you can do that, but there also might be cameras in the office. If you snore, obv you cant do that.

And wtf, dont bring a blanket and pillow, are you an idiot? Why dont you just change into pajamas with a little nite hat if you are gonna do that?

Sleep with your head on your hand or head on your desk and just say you dozed off if you get caught. Go to the bathroom, sit on the toilet and take a 30 minute nap. Say you had diarrhea. Go to your car and sleep. If the owners and guy from desk 1 arent there certain days, go sleep in their offices since nobody will come by. Good luck.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

You're never gonna hit 10k by the end of December if you waste all your perfectly good posting time sleeping.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

[ QUOTE ]
go sleep in the toilets, sitting on the closed toilet seat, leaning against the wall.

[/ QUOTE ]

I am definitely not sleeping on the crapper lol

Re: Sleeping at work
 

Horrible idea, but:

Go out to your car, park it away from everyone else and sleep.

If you sleep at your desk and get caught just say that you were up all night sick and didn't want to miss work.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

Why not just go out to your car? Thats what I do.


I'm also a "coordinator" for my company and ofton have stretches where I have no work for days. After a few months of extreme boredom I ran over to the Mervyns down the street and bought me a nice little pillow for 9.99. Now everyday from 11:00 to 12:15 I pull my car to the top of the parking structure, turn on some talk radio and pass out for an hour. It really helps, I'm not sure if I could go back to a workday without a nap.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

I work in a small office and take naps occasionally. Best bet is in your chair. If you get caught once lay off it for awhile, but the first time would be shrugged off with a lame excuse if your not caught again.

It would be best if you avoided napping at all when the owners are there.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

Ah, the ennui of everyday life! The petty boredoms and thwarted dreams! Morrissey, as always, has the answer:


Sing me to sleep
Sing me to sleep
I'm tired and I
I want to go to bed

Sing me to sleep
Sing me to sleep
And then leave me alone
Don't try to wake me in the morning
'Cause I will be gone
Don't feel bad for me
I want you to know
Deep in the cell of my heart
I will feel so glad to go

Sing me to sleep
Sing me to sleep
I don't want to wake up
On my own anymore

Sing to me
Sing to me
I don't want to wake up
On my own anymore

Don't feel bad for me
I want you to know
Deep in the cell of my heart
I really want to go

There is another world
There is a better world
Well, there must be
Well, there must be
Well, there must be
Well, there must be
Well ...

Bye bye
Bye bye
Bye ...


Edit: Why don't you get a job in a bed shop?

Re: Sleeping at work
 

If you can find good hiding spots, I'd say go for it. After my freshman year of college, I had a summer job as a janitor at an elementary school. It was a [censored] job but I worked with 4 of my buddies, so that passed the time. We hid and found places to sleep all the time, so I was napping about 2-3 hours of the day. Just don't get caught as you'd probably get fired.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

[ QUOTE ]
You're never gonna hit 10k by the end of December if you waste all your perfectly good posting time sleeping.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmmm... I hadn't thought of this. I will have to factor this in lol

Re: Sleeping at work
 

[ QUOTE ]
Why don't you get a job in a bed shop?

[/ QUOTE ]

That would be pretty sweet actually, plus I'd get a discount on beds I imagine so I could always be flossing a hot new bed piece.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

Here's an idea that I stole from somewhere, but I can't remember where. You need to have a room with a door that opens in. I did this in a stock room at my old job.

Lie down on the floor with your feet touching the door. Dump out a box of paper clips in front of your head. If someone comes in, the door will wake you (worked especially well for me b/c the door had a loud keypad lock) and you just hop to your knees and begin picking up the paperclips.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

[ QUOTE ]
Lie down on the floor with your feet touching the door. Dump out a box of paper clips in front of your head. If someone comes in, the door will wake you (worked especially well for me b/c the door had a loud keypad lock) and you just hop to your knees and begin picking up the paperclips.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is seriously awesome

Re: Sleeping at work
 

mbillie,

Just tell them you are researching this when you get busted:

http://employeefactor.com/2006/11/
http://www.napping.com/workplace.html

http://www.napping.com/images/davidjohnson.gif

Re: Sleeping at work
 

[ QUOTE ]
Here's an idea that I stole from somewhere, but I can't remember where. You need to have a room with a door that opens in. I did this in a stock room at my old job.

Lie down on the floor with your feet touching the door. Dump out a box of paper clips in front of your head. If someone comes in, the door will wake you (worked especially well for me b/c the door had a loud keypad lock) and you just hop to your knees and begin picking up the paperclips.

[/ QUOTE ]

Very good idea, but not if mbillie has a pillow and blanket right next to the clips.

Re: Sleeping at work
 

Sleep with your boss

Re: Sleeping at work
 

mbillie,

I'm also a nap expert. I may actually have some sort of mild Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, if that sort of thing can happen in degrees, because my whole life I've dealt with bouts of exhaustion.

The car is good, I've done that a time or three but I have a dumb concern about someone catching me/parking near me/etc. that kind of harshes my nap buzz.

I don't think the bathroom is so dumb. I'm embarrassed to say this but years ago I used to go into the handicapped bathroom (unisex) and lay on the floor and set my phone alarm for a 10-15 minute snooze. I was just so tired I had to recharge and it was the best option.

Here, there are a couple of places I could stow myself away. One is the accountant's office, she's never here. The other, more desirable one is an empty office that has a four desk cube. I have a chair back in the corner where nobody can see me. The only problem is, there's a girl that sits in the office between me and there, so I can really only use it when she's not around otherwise I'd be too obvious.

As for the getting caught = getting fired thing, I don't buy it. You can always just say you have a headache/are sick/something health-related and you just needed to rest your eyes a bit. It makes you look like a dedicated employee, fighting through it instead of going home!