There are some really cool jobs in the world.
For example, there is a guy whose job it is to keep the Stanley Cup until the next hockey season. That’s his job. He picks up the Stanley Cup after the championship game and takes it to his house in Toronto and keeps it safe until the next hockey season.
Then there’s the guy who flies all over the world testing waterslides. Then there is another guy whose job it is to stack all the gold at Fort Knox. Now add to this all the professional eaters, the guy who puts the dirt on the baseballs, and live mannequins — also known in the trades as human statues — and you have some pretty unique career paths.
But the one person, the very single person who had the very best — I mean, hands down, nothing even close — best job in the world, was Adam. You know, from the Bible.
It was Adam’s job to name all the animals in the world. All of them.
So Adam would get up in the morning — without pants, another bonus — and name all the animals.
“You get to be an ocelot,” and the ocelot moves on knowing he now has a name.
“You can be called platypus. And you can be a snorf-latt…no, a dog. Yeah, dog works better. You are a dog.”
Now after Adam, it becomes a little fuzzy on who picked up the naming stuff franchise. I mean, how did a canoe become a canoe and not an artichoke? Why do we say gesundheit instead of saying Maryland? And who came up with macaroni, cable, papaya, and sanctimonious?
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Not sure.
But the person who was responsible for the word nap — nailed it.
Nap. It even sounds like what it is — it only has three letters and you sound like you are going to fall asleep before the end of it.
Nap.
And although the product development team who came up with the name nap did very well, the marketing team —not so much.
Well, they did okay with the baby demographic and with older women, but they missed the true target audience — the sweet spot of nap marketing: working men.
Now, as men we do still nap. Yes, that’s true, and if you don’t believe me go to any shopping mall in the country in the middle of a work day. Then spot the car parked the very farthest away from everything and in that car you will find a sales guy napping. Then go to a park or scenic overlook and here you will see a few delivery trucks and repair vehicles, and inside of them will be technicians taking a ten-minute power nap.
So we are napping. We are just in the closet about it.
Because napping is for children and old ladies. Napping is for the lazy, the unfocused, the weak. And we are men. We are strong. And we don’t nap.
But by working in a nap you not only get more done, but actually are more creative, energetic, and healthier overall.
The Advantages of Napping
1. Acts As a Reset Button
Because that’s what a nap is. A daily reset button. If you can squeeze in a nap in the middle of the day it’s like starting over. You are now alert, energetic, sharp, and ready to hit it hard again. In fact, napping in the middle of the day is a great productivity trick, because now you are just as energetic and alert as you were in the first part of the day — so you get two mornings for the price of a morning and an afternoon.
2. Boosts Productivity
When you are tired you are working on energy reserves. You’re not doing your best work. And if you work around heavy equipment your chance of injury goes way up. Napping changes that and recharges those mental batteries. And the irony is that most men wont nap because “they have too much to do.” But studies have shown that men who nap accomplish more than men who don’t.
3. You’ll Eat Less
Talk to any physician that specializes in sleep disorders and they will tell you that the more sleep we get, the better we eat and the less we eat. Sleep deprived people are more restless and anxious. They snack and binge and eat far more than those who are well rested. People who sleep better are thinner and in better shape.
4. Acts as a Caffeine Replacement
A recent study has shown that a 20-minute nap is much more effective than a cup of coffee or even a session of exercise. That’s the irony — we can nap for energy.
5. Contributes to Mental Sharpness and Memory
Naps improve your working memory. When our mind is recharged we can focus better on complex tasks. We can also multitask and keep multiple mental balls in the air. Napping also improves our memory retention.
So come out of the closet and embrace the nap.
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