Sleeping Your Way to Success

This guy has the right idea

I love sleep. I do it every night, and I always have. (Seriously, I've never pulled an all-nighter.) I'm also pretty good at sleeping during the day. If you give me 5 minutes and a comfortable chair or couch, I can go out like a light.

I love napping, but not because I'm lazy (I don't think I've ever been accused of that). I love napping because it's such a satisfying way to recharge. If I've been working hard all day, especially if I had to wake up early, midday I'll feel my mind start to get cloudy, and my energy will drop.

Most people experience this and rush out for their afternoon coffee. I don't drink coffee, since I'm overly sensitive to caffeine. I also would prefer not to drug myself daily just to remain functional. So weird of me, right, America?

I would much prefer to take a nap. It's nature's energy boost. I find that after a short power nap, I'm more focused, alert, energetic, and creative. Often I'll awake from my nap and tackle a problem that had me stumped just minutes ago. I'll brainstorm ideas and feel motivated to execute them. And I just plain feel better.

I truly believe that my commitment to napping has helped me to be more efficient, productive, and successful. And I'm not alone.

Guess who else regularly took naps? Winston Churchill. Thomas Edison. Napoleon. Leonardo da Vinci. Eleanor Roosevelt. John F. Kennedy. John D. Rockefeller. And look where they ended up.

We're seeing the stirrings of a nap revolution. Despite centuries of stigma, the nap is starting to gain acceptance in the business world, mostly in tech startups. In 2011, about 6% of workplaces had a designated space for napping. Hubspot, for example, has a special nap room, complete with plush carpet and hammock, which staff can reserve like a conference room for a private snooze. Hubspot CEO Brian Halligan defends napping as a catalyst for inspiration.

Hubspot's nap room

In a given month, I do a lot of very mediocre stuff, but once in a while I come up with a really good idea. Maybe I’ll come up with two in a month. Those two inevitably happen when I’m either falling into a nap, or coming out of a nap, or waking up slowly on a Saturday morning. I’m trying to engineer more of those in my life. I’m trying to encourage more people to have naps because, hopefully, more people will have these brilliant ideas." -- Brian Halligan, CEO of Hubspot

And where has that pro-napping attitude gotten Hubspot? A $100 million IPO. Imagine that!

I kickstarted another napping thought-leader, the creators of the Napwell, a high-tech sleeping mask that stimulates your circadian rhythms for a gentle awakening experience. Their blog has some compelling data on nap history and nap research. They've even launched an online petition to lobby for pro-napping workplace reform. I can hear the rallying cry now: "We're here! We're sleepy! We...mmm....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!"

Napwell: The World's First Napping Mask

Perhaps the most hilarious napping innovation to hit the market is the ostrich pillow. I see where the designers are coming from. It's very practical. But, much like the snuggy, practicality and comfort can't always overcome public embarrassment. Maybe your time will come, ostrich pillow. Let's sleep on it.

The Ostrich Pillow: The World's Silliest Napping Pillow

If you're not a napper, no pressure. Enjoy your coffee. Enjoy the jitters, the highs and lows, the long lines at Starbucks and the constant drain on your wallet. I'll always favor the nap, because it's always a good idea to listen to your body. If you're sleepy, sleep. Your body will thank you for it.

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