A recent article in the Huffington Post by Ms. Huffington herself spoke of the need (for women) to get more sleep if they want to get ahead in this country. She goes one step further to state that Americans are increasingly sleep deprived. Not surprising. I have to wonder, are workshifters a close second to women in the sleep-deprivation race? What about re-naming ourselves NapShifters?

Much like a nap or good night's rest is an act of self-care to a parent with a newborn baby, power naps can be revenue generators for a workshifter. Whether it's a power nap or simply fitting in extra sleep between multiple projects and deadlines, these rest periods can take a workshifter from being productive to being a super-producer.

We all know that the "sleep mode" on our laptops reserves battery power. Naps go one step further -they reset our brains so that creativity, ingenuity and efficiency can flow more readily and rapidly into our output. If you truly believe this, it will take the guilt out of napping and put the purpose in.

Many workshifters (author included) wish daily to get by on as little sleep as possible, thereby leaving a larger space of time to accomplish more...more projects, more articles, more goals. "I'll sleep when I die" and "I don't have time for sleep" are familiar mantras to us all. Yet as hard as we might fight, we all eventually succumb to sleep nirvana. So, why not reframe the way we look at sleep: "I sleep so that I can LIVE better, WORK/LEARN/CREATE/COMMUNICATE at my highest potential."

Forever viewed as an act of indulgence, or even worse - laziness(!), naps are not our enemy. Clearly, napping when you should be calling into a stakeholder meeting or brainstorming session won't further your career; but depending on your individual schedule and location, workshifters are in a prime position to make strategic napping work!

So why not herald in the good news?! You do not have to choose between sleep and productivity - lose the guilt, nap strategically and watch the thermometer on your efficiency, creativity and professional vitality rise.

Photo Credit: John-Morgan

Last Friday I travelled up to London by train to attend a business networking party in the evening, followed by workshops all day on Saturday and Sunday.  I didn't get home till late Sunday evening, caught up with emails etc. on Monday, and by late Tuesday morning I had a headache and felt like every brain cell was full to bursting with all the impressions of people and ideas I'd absorbed.  I couldn't do another thing until I'd given myself a chance to let all this information settle and be processed.

Need a Break? Take a Nap.

The best way I've found to deal with this situation is to go for a nap, and it's one of the best perks of working from home as far as I'm concerned.  There can't be many bosses who'd respond too well to being told 'I'm not feeling very productive today, so I think I'll just stay at home and come in when I feel more in the mood.'

My faith in naps dates from years ago when I ran an office cleaning business in a very hands-on way.  I was often physically tired after an early morning start and needed a sleep before going out to see my cleaners in the evening.  When I talk about naps I don't mean a 20 minute 'power nap', either.  I mean a two hour sleep in bed.

I'm not the only one to advocate an afternoon sleep. Winston Churchill was a confirmed believer and said, 'Don't think you will be doing less work because you sleep during the day.  That's a foolish notion held by people who have no imagination.  You will be able to accomplish more.'

It seems to have worked for Churchill during the Second World War and it worked for me the other day -- I woke up headache-free and brimming with ideas for my blog and a new information product I'm writing.  I highly recommend you give it a try when you're working from home, in a hotel room, on a train or plane.  If you're feeling blocked, short of ideas, tired, or at a dead end, close your eyes and let your subconscious do the work for you. You'll be amazed by the results!

Photo Credit: Nathan Jones

The conversation of sleep has recently come up in the last few weeks amongst some fellow workshifters in my town. All of us are notorious for pulling late hours and depriving ourselves of recharge. For some reason there is a common badge of honor associated with this practice. I believe this is a myth. Getting little or no sleep on purpose is not a badge of honor, it's terribly unproductive.

I was the guy that claimed my most creative and productive time was between 1am and 4am. Not true. It was only that way because I wasted time during the day and had to meet a deadline.

Can any of you relate?

Now I am not advocating you hold yourself to a 9-5 workshifting schedule where you go to sleep at 10pm and get up at 6am. Many of us left that way of life behind. I am recommending you build sleep into your life. I have a friend who goes to sleep at 4am and begins his day at noon. His lifestyle fits into this schedule and he is well rested.

Hopefully, you realize by now that sleep is important. If you're not convinced, here are a few resources to check out:

• Sleep Benefits
• 10 Things to Hate About Sleep Loss
• Sleep

You may not be at a point where creating a schedule for more sleep on a daily basis is realistic. I have been there. My solution was a sleep investment. I would choose a day (every week or two) and not set an alarm. I slept until I was done. This helped me restore some balance internally. This investment paid dividends. My body and brain loved me for it.

It is easy to get burnt out workshifting. The nature of working anywhere tends to have us working all the time. This usually eats into other areas essential to living a healthy life. 

Resist the temptation of sleep deprivation. Work hard. Play hard. Sleep hard.

Photo Credit: Paul Jacobson

I don't spend my day thinking about sleep.  My mind is consumed with work, life, and everything in between.  However, I notice a material difference in my performance depending on the number of hours of sleep I get.
 
7 - 8:  Rock star
6 - 7:  Feeling good
5 - 6:  Is a cold coming on?
4 - 5:  I'm irritable and no amount of coffee can help
3 - 4:  New born sleep (for those that know what I'm talking about..it's bad)
 
I work so hard at being "on" and I need to work just as hard at being "off".  I find that if I'm active right up until I go to bed that I have a really hard time turning my brain off.  I'm in bed, and I can't fall asleep...it sucks!
 
If I take some time to read a few pages of a magazine or book, it really helps.  Also, if I'm worried about something I write it down.  There is something about writing things down that makes them seem not so overwhelming.  It also serves as a reminder to deal with it in the morning.
 
If all else fails, you pop a pill, but I find that to be a very short term fix.  It only solves the symptom and not the problem.  Figure out what's keeping you up, and solve it.  Easier said than done, but with a little effort, I find that I can get the "feeling good" sleep most of the time.
 
Both WebMD and Harvard have published articles with tips on how to sleep better, and I encourage you to read them, but I'm really curious about what your healthy sleeping tips are?

Photo by: just.Luc