successful home working
The magic of home working naps
On a recent Friday I travelled up to London by train to attend a business networking party in the evening, followed by workshops all day on Saturday and Sunday. I didn’t get home till late Sunday evening, caught up with emails etc on Monday, and by late Tuesday morning I had a headache and felt like every brain cell was full to bursting with all the impressions of people and ideas I’d absorbed. I couldn’t do another thing until I’d given myself a chance to let all this information settle and be processed.
The best way I’ve found to deal with this situation is to go for a nap, and it’s one of the best perks of working from home as far as I’m concerned. There can’t be many bosses who’d respond too well to being told ‘I’m not feeling very productive today, so I think I’ll just stay at home and come in when I feel more in the mood.’
My faith in naps dates from years ago when I ran an office cleaning business in a very hands-on way. I was often physically tired after an early morning start and needed a sleep before going out to see my cleaners in the evening. When I talk about naps I don’t mean a 20 minute ‘power nap’, either. I mean a two hour sleep in bed.
I’m not the only one to advocate an afternoon sleep – Winston Churchill was a confirmed believer and said, ‘Don’t think you will be doing less work because you sleep during the day. That’s a foolish notion held by people who have no imagination. You will be able to accomplish more.’
It seems to have worked for Churchill during the Second World War and it worked for me the other day – I woke up headache-free and brimming with ideas for my blog and a new information product I’m writing. Give it a try if you’re feeling blocked, short of ideas, tired, or at a dead end. Close your eyes and let your subconscious do the work for you. At this time of year you get the added benefit of warming up before resuming your post at the computer!
This post was first published on www.workshifting.com, the site for people who work out of coffee shops, hotels, airports and their homes every bit as much as the office.
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Well, I’m just so sick and tired of the expectation that we must be busy and productive all the time! Human beings don’t work like that (in both senses of the word), we need downtime just as much as time to be creative, and taking the time off makes us so much more effective when we get back to work.
In fact I’d say one of my major ongoing mistakes is not planning enough variety into my week, because of the old programming about keeping my nose to the grindstone. So these posts are as much for me as anybody else!
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Having only worked “full time” from home for 6 months, I am still acclimatising. I have had a couple of occasions when 40 winks has made a whole difference to my outlook on the day and my productivity soared afterwards.
Agreed that adding variety to the day helps immensley – a quick trip to the shops or a brisk walk with the dog also works wonders!
I seem to come alive at about 4.00pm when I ought to be thinking of winding down a bit though! Still, a lie in the next day is always possible if we work late – what great benefits we have workign from home!
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Sometimes I don’t really get into work until much later than 4 pm! I’m not quite sure why, altho I have always enjoyed having a different routine to most people. When I ran my cleaning business I used to go out very early in the morning to check offices before people came in to work. I always liked the experience of driving home afterwards in the opposite direction of everyone else!
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I admire you for sharing this with us. I have been known to do this too!