TODAY, in case you hadn’t realised, is National Sleep Day.
This non-profit making awareness event has been dreamt up to encourage us all to have a post-prandial siesta to benefit our health and our performance at work.
So in theory you can have a nap at lunchtime and your boss can't admonish you for it.
Company bosses are encouraged to let their staff have a nap as part of their lunch break, avoiding disruption to work. The siesta is a sure way of helping us to be productive, more alert, healthier and happier.
Even five minutes can be beneficial!
My late father always had a little mid-day nap after dinner when we were farming in the 1940s and 50s.
He often said: “After dinner rest a while... after supper walk a mile.”
Mind you, he earned it - he was out and about the farmyard and the fields every morning at five o'clock, summer and winter.
When I became sales representative I was lucky to work for a very shrewd sales director. He always said to me: “Make sure you take an hour off work for your lunchbreak.”
I was travelling along North Wales roads and lanes selling agricultural products to farmers. At about 12.30pm I would find a good lay-by and take a “breather” for an hour.
I used to spend my hour by having my sandwiches and a glance at the Daily Post for 20 minutes, followed by 20 minutes snooze. For the final 20 minutes I would take a brisk walk.
After that, I was refreshed, energised, alert and enthusiastic, and I was ready to do many more hours of work.
Believe me, selling is a hard and exhausting profession, and physical and mental fitness is vital.
Britain is alowly adopting the siesta, but unlike the Spanish equivalent that can take up to two hours, we are shortening it to 10 or 15 minutes, making it an effective tool in helping us to be more alert and productive in the afternoon.
Famous people who napped:
- Brahms napped at the piano while he composed his famous lullaby.
- Napoleon napped between battles while sitting on his horse.
- Churchill maintained that he had to nap in order to cope with his wartime responsibilities.
- Geniuses such as Edison and da Vinci napped.
- Margaret Thatcher napped in order to be at her best.
It appears I'm in good company. I still nap for 20 to 30 minutes most days. Maybe I could be the next Prime Minister!
