As a working mother of an eight-month-old, I’m in a near constant state of sleep deprivation. I stumble through workdays in a haze. More than once, I’ve arrived at the office and realized that I’d left my laptop at home, 20 miles away. I yawn in meetings and only keep up with my to-do list by the grace of a $10-a-day coffee habit.
So when my editor assigned me a story that required sleeping every day at work, I felt a surge of gratitude. For a period of three weeks, I’d lie down for 30 minutes each afternoon. I’d track my productivity, mood, and energy level to gauge whether a daily siesta made me better at my job—and happier overall.
Research shows that napping can boost memory and improve mood. But I soon discovered that dozing off at the office is considerably harder than it sounds. On the first day, I got so wrapped up in meetings that I forgot about it entirely. The next day didn’t go much better: I unrolled my yoga mat on my office floor and shut the door. But instead of drifting off, I lay there obsessing about what I had to accomplish before the end of the day. “I have been up with the baby…
