August 2010
Friends,
August... summer time, clearly felt in the more relaxed pace of
business (and a respite from traffic jams at rush hour) while
everyone is on well-deserved vacations. Using the time to invent
new products and improve old ones, getting ready for their
return; and taking more time for DIY projects and leisure
myself.
Happy New Year to those of you who
observe Rosh Hashanah (and a happy 12 months stretch to the rest
of y'all in any case!)
Cheers,
This issue’s theme: Taking a rest at work
The concept of a Siesta in a hi-tech world
In keeping with the hot summer, this issue I discuss a concept
few would associate with the hi-tech world: the afternoon nap,
or
Siesta, or as it is called in Israel schlafstunde.
This brief rest after lunch was deeply ingrained in various
hot-climate cultures for ages, but is totally at odds with
today's prevailing global culture. Too bad - because it would be
a great idea for both employees and employers!
What YOU can do about it
Actionable Tip
Your ability to institute a short nap after lunch while working
would vary based on where you work. If you work at home, you
should seriously consider making a habit of it.
In an office it may be risky if the culture opposes it; but you
may do well to examine whether the work culture may be changed
to legitimize the practice. If your company has an employee rest
area, for instance, it may be easier to introduce napping in an
armchair as an accepted option. If you feel brave enough to be
the change agent, have a word with your management!
Food for Thought
Consider the alternative: a 20 minute nap is a far more
effective way to re-energize, but if it's frowned upon people
will just apply less effective alternatives that still preclude
working: they might take a long coffee break, embark on
excessive web browsing, or even find a conference room to
secretly go sleep in (seen it happen). Worst yet, they may try
to work while sleepy and make costly mistakes!
Analysis and Opinion
The loss of the
afternoon rest habit is reinforced by everything in our hectic
culture. The once standard store and business hours of 8-1 and
then 4-7 are replaced by supposedly 9-to-5 jobs with actual
14-hour workdays, and mega-stores with all-day (and sometimes
night) schedules. The long commutes to the workplace also
preclude using a break to drop home for lunch and a rest -
nobody remembers the stores of old with the owner's flat above
them.
So why is this progress bad for us?
Because the biological rhythms of our bodies include a slump
after lunch; and trying to ignore this and work results in
reduced productivity, increased error rates, and lowered quality
of life. Allowing ourselves (and our employees) a mere
20-minutes rest would have significant effect on our subsequent
alertness and productivity, paying back the lost time with
interest. Instead, we guzzle yet another shot of caffeine...
Another reason to allow a Schlafstunde is that it would serve to
interrupt the stress that is a major aspect of our overloaded
workdays. To sleep you'd have to turn off your BlackBerry's
alerts, which you'd never do otherwise.
Sadly, the idea of sleeping in a cubicle is so opposed to the
current work ethic that it would take a real cultural change to
empower it, and manager support would be vital. Some workplaces
are actually doing this, adding Nap Rooms and reaping the
benefits.
Solutions and Resources
For information and insight about this subject check Thea
O'Connor's site at
http://www.thea.com.au/.
If your
company is willing to get serious about this, it might consider
nap pods - sound isolating cocoon chairs such as the Metronaps
Energypod, seen
here
in use at Google.
|
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Herodotus tells of a trick used by Histiaeus, the ruler of
Miletus in the 5th century BC, in order to send a secret
message. He had shaved his slave's head, tattooed the
message on his scalp, and when the hair grew back he sent
the poor chap to the recipient, who shaved the head to
access the message. Not as advanced as
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