Sleeping at Work

Sleep Deprived Nation... Michael Moore's next film?

Maybe. It does seem like America is becoming an increasingly sleep-deprived nation, also the focus of a recent study released by the Nationa Sleep Foundation (of America).

I was just skimming the CNN site and found an article about Americans sleeping at work. While most people think it's just funny (which, ok, it is.... although sleeping on the job is generally not accepted in my home culture), I clicked on the link because sleeping at work is one of the few unversally shocking aspects of this culture that many foreigners discuss during their first few weeks (or years) working in a Japanese office and I was curious to see what they said.

In Japan, People just SLEEP at their desk like they are actually being paid to do it... something I originally found surprising for such a stereotypically driven and hard-working nation. When you consider the group-mentality factor, it makes sense (if you are physically present you are part of the group... and that is most important), but I still have yet to snooze off at work (especially at my desk). Some of my friends have taken advantage of the cultural difference, but maybe just not me.

Anyways, the basic premise of this CNN article/sleep study is that Americans seem to be picking up on this trend, apparently not too far behind the Japanese. And while it might not be fully accepted in our culture (as it is here?), it is more common than ever. In a recent poll, one-third of (American) workers reported falling asleep on the job. I am not sure what sort of business climates they were researching in, but the survey also showed that some companies are also offering workers a nap room or free fruit to help stay away (hello... what happened to coffee?) to help curb the estimated $100 billion that is lost in productivity (health care costs, absenteeism, etc) by these tired workers that could be that much better with a few more ZzZ's.

I am not sure what the situation is where you work, but I can't imagine people sleeping on payroll at my old workplaces in the US, so this was rather interesting. Granted, I worked with some insanely driven, talented and motivated people (retail - especially corporate - is a crazy world), but I just don't see it being appropriate anywhere. If you're bored, check out the article; just a but of food for thought.

Left: Coworkers during our school festival.