Sleeping on the Job

After a year and a half of working a real job again after seven years of working out of my house, I've gotten into the swing of the normal routine pretty well: shaving every day, waking up before noon, working with clothes on, etc. But I'm still a fan of the afternoon nap.

I'm not alone in this. Plenty of research suggests that napping increases productivity. (Just look at how productive siesta-loving Spain and Mexico are...er, never mind.) So, yes, every now and then I doze off in my chair at the office for 15-20 minutes or so. Since I have a relatively isolated cube, I thought I could get away with it. Until today...

In my defense, I got up at 4:30 this morning, in Chicago on a biz trip, to finish a presentation for later in the day. (Let's not dwell on the fact that I was supposed to have finished it a couple of days ago.) So I flew back, presented the material, which was well received, and then after the addrenline wore off, well, I got sleepy. So, I dozed.

Woke up, somewhat less refreshed than I'd hoped, and finished working on another document (a rewrite of something from a partner firm). I sent it to my boss and told her it still needed a bit of work, but I was really tired. "So I heard," she said. "Apparently you were really snoring earlier." Heads turned and quickly went back to their computer screens, quaking with stifled sniggering.

I've since been informed that my colleagues all gathered around me and had a good laugh. And yes, God help me, I'm a snorer! I'm just lucky they didn't put chili peppers in my agape mouth or some such.

Well...at least I wasn't drooling!!!