I'm not a particularly frequent napper. I usually sleep well at night, anywhere from 7-9 hours, so I generally don't need a nap during the day.
However, it's been rainy lately, so my sweater tops and hoodies make their yearly debut out of my closet 'round this time. These items are soft, and warm... and feel particularly comforting when it's cold out.
Also, my schedule consists of school in the morning, then work from noonish to around 9pm. It's quite a boring job - but i'm not complaining. During downtime I have moments to "surf the web" (gawd, does anyone still use that term anymore?), pick at my nails, and study. After I become satisfied with the state of my cuticles, I usually get quite bored, and start to get rather sleepy. Sometimes I can feign off slumber, but sometimes it just becomes a necessary evil.
On this particular Thursday, I have a headache, and the overcast sky outside my window is extremely bright, causing me to squint more often than not. This makes for a deadly combo. I usually don't get headaches, because I think i'm teething today. I usually just sleep off the headache, but it's much more difficult here at work.
Some tips for the awake-challenged people at work:
1. Try running in circles like a maniac to get your heart pumping. If that doesn't work (or freaks people out), proceed immediately to step #2.
2. Two words: Starbucks Doubleshot. But only once in a while, or it's potency will be ineffective. Use the force wisely!
3. NEVER put your head on your desk, unless you're at a workplace that's cool about sleeping. If you are at a workplace that's cool like that, please message me the company info, and alert me if they're hiring.
4. Do not lean back in your chair for a snooze. You're kind of just asking for it. Especially if you lose control of your jaw function, a sneaky co-worker ninja could come by and slip a warhead into your mouth or something. Maybe a bug. That would be mean. Also, it's the wrong trajectory for your eyelids. You need to be looking DOWN to pretend you're awake.
5. If you MUST sleep, you have to remember to hide your snoring. Play some music (rock or maybe hip hop) to hide your palatal noises.
6. Put down an important-looking document, or a book in front of you on the desk. Put your elbow on the desk, and put your chin/jaw area on your palm. Position your head as if you are reading the paper. If available, use your bangs (fringe) over your eyes and snooze away. You may become so relaxed that your head starts to loll around on your neck, causing that gradual sinkage, and the jerk-y snap back up. As long as no one sees this you're fine. If you're in a shared office, make this motion very small and undetectable.
7. While in the aforementioned position, I constantly like to switch it up and put my four fingers on my forehead, and my thumb on my temple, and hold my head up that way because it looks like i'm focusing really hard, and that my work is stressing me out. Brownie points! My side bang also helps.
8. If the desk situation isn't working out for you, you can always take a snooze on the toilet. It's kinda like multitasking. Personally I don't wanna sleep where I shit.
9. If you have a break coming up, or maybe a lunch, you can always opt for sleeping in your car. If you don't have a car, you can sleep in someone else's car. Someone is bound to have one. Or perhaps a bench somewhere, but then you risk looking like a bum. Also, benches are getting all anti-bum nowdays. They have those separators now. Poor bums.
10. Have a mirror close to your desk. If someone comes in and needs you to be conscious, you should always be aware of any red, tired looking eyes, or red marks from your hand anywhere on your face. You can cover those up with makeup if you're a girl, or make up some hilarious god-awful story like "ohhh ummm an alien seagull uhhh smacked me in the face while I was uhhh doing this spreadsheet! yeah, totally rude, man!".
That last line always works, I tell you.
PinkStar26
