By Maxwell Modell

Happy National Napping Day 2020 – “What is National Napping Day?” I hear you cry.

Have no fears, all shall be revealed.

National Napping Day was invented by William Anthony, Ph.D., a professor at Boston University, and his wife Camille Anthony in 1999. The couple wanted to help educate people about the power of a good snooze and the extraordinary health benefits of getting just a little extra rest.

The unofficial holiday is observed annually following the return of daylight saving time in the US, with an afternoon nap recommended to help individuals adjust to the clock change. This day was chosen because the Anthonys felt the time change left Americans “nap ready”, meaning it was the optimum opportunity to introduce the revolutionary power of napping into their lives.

As you may have guessed by now National Napping Day is an American holiday, but why should we let them have all the fun. We deserve to nap too and the benefits of napping should not be limited to one day each year!

Go on, treat yourself. Here are 6 ways you can celebrate.

1.  Take a nap

Treat yourself to a power nap. Take 20 minutes in your afternoon, shut yourself off from the outside world, close your eyes and nap. Re-enter the world energised and ready smash the rest of your day. Napping starts with giving yourself permission and knowing that it is the best use of your time, even when you’re uber busy!

2.  Start an open discussion in your office about sleep

Napping is natural, our bodies are quite literally biologically designed to nap. But what isn’t natural is sneaking off to take a nap in the loo! Dishonesty works against a supportive happy workplace. It’s time to start breaking down the taboos surrounding sleep in the workplace. If you’re struggling with your sleep or worried others in the office are, talk about it. A change in culture starts with an open dialogue. As soon as you start talking to colleagues about sleep, the extent of the sleep deprivation crisis which plagues our business community will soon reveal itself. This is where progress begins. From here you can start exploring solutions which work for you and your business.

3.  Try one of our new nap meditations

If you’ve been struggling to drift off and get that perfect nap, why not try one of our new nap meditations? Developed with Mindful Leadership expert David Mayes our nap meditations will help you drift off for a 20-minute power nap and gently wake you up, refreshed and ready for the rest of your day. Whether the soothing sounds of the forest or calming waves are more your thing, our nap meditations will truly take you to another place for a blissful restorative nap.

To find our nap meditations and loads of other awesome nap tech head over to our nap store.

4.  Post about it #NationalNappingDay

Share the joy with friends, family, the bus driver, that one friend on Facebook you’re not sure you’ve spoken to in 5 years, or anyone you can think of. Everyone deserves to nap and today is the perfect day to remind the world of that. Nap selfie anyone?

5.  Educate yourself about the power of napping

At ProNappers we have all of the resources you need to boost your nap knowledge. Unleash the empowerment of education and dive into our latest Nap Chat Blogs, explore our Nap-O-Graphic, the fastest route to nap enlightenment, or set yourself down somewhere comfy and watch Cara tell Financial Times journalist Dan Garrahan why the financial world needs to wake up to the benefits of napping, as he investigates ‘How to get more sleep’.

6.  Become a Naptivst’ – Book one of our Mental Health Awareness Week workshops

This year Mental Health Awareness Week focuses on sleep. A ProNappers workshop is the perfect way to supplement your other MHAW activities. Getting enough sleep is essential for good Mental Health but sleeping well at night is just half the story. Power napping can de-stress your office and take your business to the next level. We’re here to help you achieve that potential.

From our ‘Become a Naptivist’ workshop, your people will:

  • See the value of their own lost productivity from fatigue denial
  • Recognise the inadequacies of focusing only on good night-time sleep habits
  • Understand how napping is normal
  • Love the immediate benefits they can gain from a 20 minute power nap
  • Learn how to nap well
  • Smash through the negative attitudes limiting their successful napping
  • Go away with their own Nap-Sack starter kit to give them that extra boost to get napping.

Please get in touch with Sam or Cara at ProNappers to discuss booking a workshop.

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