It's Nap Time!

The 80’s had the power lunch and power tie. The nineties were swamped in the power play, power yoga, and PowerPoint. Now, the 21st Century welcomes-- right on cue as the perfect antidote--the Power Nap! After years of sleep research touting the benefits of napping, in collusion with studies showing that Americans are sleep-deprived, the nap culture is slowly taking over – under our desks, in empty conference rooms, and even in stores, where you can actually pay for a 20-minute nap!

Nike may tell the world to “Just Do It”, but, internally their slogan might as well be, “Just Snooze It”. The company offers its staff “relaxation rooms” for quick Zs. The Kansas City architectural firm Gould Evans Goodman Associates employs "spent tents," stocked with pillows, blankets and alarm clocks. Iowa-based health care provider, Res Care Inc. has a sign on their nap room door proudly stating, "Napping in Progress." One such website embracing the new nap market phenomena is gadget superstore, Brookstone.com who offers a wide array of nap-related merchandise.

Slumber is serious business these days: Do you opt for the Quick NAP Pillow or the Cuddle NAP Pillow? Do you prefer Nap Slippers, Nap Booties, or simple Nap Socks? Don’t forget your pillow case-- Quick Nap Cover or a Power Nap Cover? Napoleon, who famously copped Zs on the battlefield, wasn’t lucky enough to be born in the 21st century, where he could have purchased the NAP Dream blanket, specially designed for napping anywhere, even beneath a cannon! Lucky Napoleon had sentries to monitor his sleeping breaks. We need machines to do that and Brookstone.com has just the thing: the SmartSet Radio Alarm Clock, with 20 radio station-presets, tuning lock, and a nap timer.

Nap related items are a revenue stream for Brookstone.com, as they are to Arshad Chowdhury, the director of Metronaps, a nap “store” located in the Empire State Building, where for $14.00 you can steal 25 minutes from your workday to climb into one of 15 sleeping “pods” and fall into the arms of Morpheus. Chowdhury started his business after working on Wall Street, where he witnessed workers falling asleep at their desks, or covertly sleeping on toilet seats.

Napping may soon become the norm at many companies, after all, they’ve adopted casual Fridays, flexi-time, and tele-commuting. Someday, it may be perfectly acceptable to set up nap camp under your desk, cradling Brookstone.com’s Nap® Cuddle Bear. Who knows? But one thing is for sure: No one will ever lose money underestimating the fatigue of Americans. Okay, it’s sleepy time! Good afternoon!

-Jennie D.