You have permission to rest. Yes, I mean you. You don’t need my permission, or anyone else’s, but if you need the nudge, I’m happy to help.

We usually don’t get enough sleep. According to a sleep study (PDF file):

In the past century, Americans have reduced their average time asleep by 20% and, in the past 25 years, added a month to their average annual work/commute time.

In its 1999 survey Sleep in America, the National Sleep Foundation found that 40% of American adults report feeling so sleepy during the day that it interferes with their daily activities.

Here are a few tips to Nap To Be More Productive:

• Get a good night’s sleep–eight hours, on average.
• Avoid napping longer than 45 minutes. Use an alarm or have someone call to awaken you. Artist Salvador Dali held a silver spoon in his hand above a silver tray on his lap. When the spoon fell from his hand and clattered atop the tray, that was all the sleep he needed to feel refreshed.
• Don’t just lay your head on your desk. Get comfortable so you can get quality sleep.
• Keep a diary to record each nap’s effects: Track the start time, total time spent napping and total hours slept the night before.

Besides operating on less sleep than we need, we live frenetically. October 24, 2003 will be the first official Take Back Your Time Day, which is described as “a nationwide initiative to challenge the epidemic of overwork, over-scheduling and time famine that now threatens our health, our families and relationships, our communities and our environment.” By the last week of October, the average American has worked as many hours as most Europeans do all year. The goal of this day is to raise awareness of the costs of overwork on our health, our mental and spiritual well-being, and overall functioning as a society. I’m glad the Cornell Center for Religions, Ethics, & Social Policy and The Simplicity Forum are promoting this; it’s about time. (No pun intended.)

It’s time to take care of ourselves. We’re the only ones who have the power to do so, and we’re the only ones preventing it. So if you feel sleepy, let your body and mind rest. You’ll be happier for it.