At the government tax office where I first worked, it was made known that one of the senior staff, a Mr Slingsby, was never to be disturbed between one and two o’clock.

During this hour, he never left the building but would set up a camp bed in his room and have a snooze.

At the time, I put this down to a combination of eccentricity and the fact that he was ‘old’ (in his fifties).

Now that I have reached this age myself (which I have now redesignated as ‘mature’) I can fully understand his behaviour.

I started to appreciate the importance of napping and the ‘siesta’ when I moved to Italy sixteen years ago. Sleeping after good food and a glass or two of wine is one of life’s great pleasures.

As an Englishman, staying indoors when the weather is hot initially went against the grain but I quickly realised that to join the mad dogs out in the midday sun was an act of lunacy.

I now cultivate the habit of an early afternoon nap whenever I can irrespective of the season. Any more than 30 minutes can legitimately be classed as idleness but a 15-20 minute snooze always leaves me feeling revived.

I can take comfort from noting that this practice is even endorsed in the business world. It is now widely recognised that staff are more productive after a ‘power nap’ and that working slavishly without such breaks is bad practice.

I haven’t yet got to the point of taking a fold up bed to my workplace but I’m thinking about it!

Related links:
In praise of the power nap (Daily Express)
Power naps boost productivity (Foot & Ankle Associates, Texas)
How to take a power nap (Napsoundshome)