24 January 2012

Naps, and not the kind on my head

I used to love nap times when I was in preschool.  How cool that I had a story read to me, let my food digest after eating some super yummy lunches (loved the home cooked food), and rest up before afternoon recess (I really had to have energy as I was one of the faster, stronger kids and was often responsible for pushing the merry-go-round - why don't they have those any more? Are they really that worried that a kid will fall underneath and get sucked into the netherworld? Or maybe it was all the rust and possibly-lead-ridden paint. They could always switch to plastic, couldn't they?).

When I was younger I was the designated Kid Sis #3 waker-up-er.  She would not let any one else wake her up.  She loved the way I did it, plus we were designated Best-Buds, even had a special way of holding hands.  She was so cute.  I would drive her to school in the mornings before going to school myself.  Many mornings, I would get ready - get dressed, eat, make myself look decent, get my backpack ready, then wake her up.  After making sure she was in a good mood, I would go back to my room and take about a 15-20 minute nap.

Best sleep ever!

At my old job, teachers did not have desks in the classroom.  There were designated offices based on the subject you taught.  Humanities were together.  I had a desk in there that was perfect.  It was large, and was set up right next to all the other desks perfectly.  On long days when I had completed all of my grading and prepping, I could place my coat on the back of the chair, and sit under the desk in such a way that I would not be seen.  I could put some kind of cloth on the ground, use my bag as a pillow and take the best. Naps.  Ever.

Seriously.

I know some of you are likely thinking that I am a horrible teacher, not to toot my own horn, but you couldn't be more wrong.  I had last hour prep and needed the rest in order to make it through all of the incessant drama of the district and be ready for track practice after school.  When I was there at that school, the stress was so much that I basically lived with a headache all the time for about the last year and a half+ that I was there.

Others or you are thinking that I am a genius for making those 10-20 minute breaks happen with no one knowing.  Well, KBO caught on, but I believe it was because I told her that I was doing it and that she should take advantage, too.

I haven't been able to do that with the new(er) gig.  I must.  Find.  A.  Way.

There would be nothing better for work productivity than if every job incorporated a nap time.

I know that in a school, that could lead to sex scandals with the students, but what about if it was just for teachers during their prep hours?

I should totally get our school to invest in this idea.  Other occupations already have.

I don't even need anything as complex as the Google Nap pod pictured.  I just need to be able to lay my head down to de-stress, juvenate and juvenate again. (From Pootie Tang, I realize the actual word is rejuvenate.)

7 comments:

  1. Naps are the best. That is all.

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  2. I LOVE that you figured out a way to take naps at work everyday.

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  3. @ Dawn - I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so!

    @ Kathy - Thanks. It wasn't a daily thing - maybe once a week, some weeks not at all, but it was definitely worth it on the days that it did happened.

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  4. Naps are so healthy! I agree that if they were incorporated into work culture in this country, productivity would totally go up. Somehow I figure that chance of that is low, considering that most American's don't even use their vacation time.

    P.S. I love that you had such a good relationship with your sister! I feel like I don't hear siblings speaking of each other lovingly very often.

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  5. @ Emily - I agree, I think I read somewhere that Americans use the least amount of vacation time, even when it is offered. Thanks for the compliment about our relationship.

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  6. I have long been a proponent of being able to take naps at work, based on my experiences in the AI Computer Science lab at UC Davis, which had a very comfy couch. Sometimes just 10-15 minutes is all you need to be able to keep going for the next 6 hours.

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    Replies
    1. 10-15 is all I usually need in the middle of the day. Naps really work wonders.

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