GET your sleeping bag and snuggle down with the boss — sleep experts say that a nap is the best way to increase work productivity. A daily 20-minute nap, between 1pm and 3pm, is ideal, the sleep scientist Sara Mednick tells BusinessWeek (Nov 27). Sleeping at work will get the creative juices flowing and improve your ability to think quickly and clearly. And if you’re really up against it you could try extreme napping — taking a one and a half hour nap every eight hours. But this is recommended only for short periods, say 24 hours, because it could make you sick and earn you time off and some real sleep.
. . . BAD WEEK
IT MIGHT seem fun to belt out your corporate values to the tune of a famous ballad. But would you feel half as smug if your skit was broadcast across the world to the cynical non-corporate masses? No, say two employees who sang about Bank of America and MBNA’s merger “romantically and sincerely” to the tune of U2’s One at a corporate event. It has now been YouTubed for all to see. A psychologist in the Wall Street Journal (Nov 21) had just one comment, “holy mackerel”, made between cringing and crying with laughter. The boys now agree that singing at work isn’t a good idea.