If you’re a creative, why it’s probably time for a nap.

When we think of naps, we may think of something for children or maybe on a lazy Saturday afternoon.

The idea of a nap in the middle of a workday may feel shameful, inappropriate, or something to hide.  In fact, I’m probably taking a risk sharing this, but I think it’s important.

I must confess my truth.  I am a napper.  There, I’ve said it.

Now, before someone gets up in arms and says this is the reason why we shouldn’t allow working from home, let me be clear.  That time offline is work.  Yep…work.  It may not look like it from the outside, but if you could see the inside of my brain you’d absolutely believe it.

Let me explain.

A “traditional” workday

For many years, I followed the traditional working model.  Get up, get ready, go to work, and come home.  Nothing came after that, other than decompress and sleep.  I was mentally drained and pretty much useless. 

With that model, my decision-making capacity and creative abilities were high in the morning and pretty much non-existent by mid-afternoon.  I had come to accept that as truth and the way things were.

In a prior role, I even communicated that reality to my manager.  He would occasionally ask me to work into the night on building a visual story for a key meeting that we would review in the early morning.  

I explained my work rhythms and that if he wanted quality work, let me “sleep on it” that night and I’d knock it out the next morning.  If we met at mid-morning, he’d have a polished product.  If I tried to do it his way, I’d spend all night creating crap.

That was my method.  Queue up ideas and creative needs in the afternoon, sleep on it, and then wake energized to knock them out.

Over time, my work demanded more and more creative thinking and decision-making throughout the day.  I couldn’t afford to burn out those creative juices in the morning.

Enter the nap.

A mid-day reset

One day, I was feeling mentally tired pretty early in the day.  There was a lot that needed doing and I wasn’t sure how I was going to get it all done.  I’ve learned to listen to my body when I can, so I went into my room to lie down at lunch.

I didn’t sleep – my mind was racing too much for that.  Instead, I used the time away from the screen to settle my mind and think through my afternoon.  

It was a mental check-in, going through one thing at a time.  Focusing that racing brain.

What decisions were needed?  Who did I need to engage and what would they need to inform their perspective?  If I was presenting, what was my key narrative and what additional content might I need to support it?

I’ve heard some folks say they go for a walk at lunch to do something similar.  Where I live, it’s 90 degrees at lunchtime, so that’s out.  It’s also visually stimulating outside.  The big benefit of closing my eyes is I can visualize what I want to create.

Since so much of my work is visual storytelling, that is key.  Closing the eyes and being in a quiet place reduces sensory distractions.  Allows for focused thinking that sitting in front of a computer, or walking outside, might not.

Walks have their place…that’s when I tend to come up with new ideas (if the temperature allows it).  When doing creative work, however, I’d strongly recommend the nap.

Afternoon abundance

I noticed that afternoon that I was cranking more than normal.  It was like a second morning, with more energy, focus, and creative juices than my afternoons typically afford.

One day isn’t a true test, so I tried again.  And again.  I was on to something for sure.  In fact, on the days where I had meetings scheduled over lunch and couldn’t break away from my device, I noticed the difference.

Ironically, my new manager and I had a conversation about taking time away for creative work.  He likes to give me big, challenging problems on Thursday afternoons.  At first he apologized for it, until he saw what I could create on Monday if I took Friday off from meetings.

I’d get off the computer and think.  Imagine.  Draw.  Rest and reflect.  Go for a drive or a walk.

When we spend our day in meetings or in front of a computer (both if we work remotely), expecting creative work to flow throughout isn’t reasonable.  Making complex decisions and doing deep, challenging work, is also difficult to do all day, every day.

Unless we take that time away.

The office reset

Naps aren’t just for remote workers.

Reflecting back, there were always nappers at my companies.  At lunch, when I’d go for that highly-endorsed walk, there would be at least one person napping in their car.  I didn’t get it then, but I do now.

That gets challenging when the weather won’t cooperate.  My last three companies have added what I’d call sensory rooms.  They are quiet spaces with adjustable lighting to help with headaches, sensory overload, and more.

Maybe, just maybe, companies have started to realize that time away from the computer can help folks be more productive.  Certainly, walking paths and encouraging “walk and talks” for 1×1 meetings have become common.  Ideally taking time to mentally rest and reflect will as well.

As I said, it might look like a nap isn’t working.  But if it brings more clarity, energy, and creativity to the workday (aka increases productivity), I’d argue differently.

I’d love to hear others’ stories of how they extend their decision-making and creative energies throughout their day.  Is there something you’ve found to be a successful reset or jump-start as that energy lags?  Please share it below in the comments.