was i wrong at work?

alias454

Whether it is your time or not, sleeping at your desk in plain view is generally considered a no-no. I would go the route of getting up and moving. Getting your blood pumping will help wake you up. Personally, I don't agree with going to your car and napping either but that is just me. Sleeping at work is just one of those things that has a potential to make you look bad so the rule of thumb is not to do anything that makes you look bad.

networker050184

mindcrank wrote: »

Yeah, It really depends on your work environment. I have worked in some SCIF's where access was controlled and it was not a big deal since no "customers" were walking around. But in other cube farms where certain management types or customers would be around, this is definitely a no no.

Definitely I've worked in environments were it wouldn't be a big deal as in getting fired or anything. You certainly aren't moving up or being taken seriously if you're the type to be passed out at your desk.

thomas_

You should have made a sign saying that you were on break and to not disturb... I met a guy once that went through an entire drama related to napping during his lunch hour. He started off at his desk and got in trouble for it. He then moved outside to a bench on the street and got in trouble for that. Then went to his car parked across the street and got in trouble for taking a nap in his car on his lunch break.

certm0de

Sleeping at your desk appears unprofessional regardless if you're on break or not.

doctorlexus

Never sleep at your desk. Always unroll your sleeping bag and ground pad and sleep on the floor next to your desk.

Danielm7

doctorlexus wrote: »

Never sleep at your desk. Always unroll your sleeping bag and ground pad and sleep on the floor next to your desk.

Are you some sort of savage? Everyone knows you use sofa pillows to make a fort first, then you sleep in that.

scaredoftests

NO, a tunnel near your desk with a bed is more appropriate.

Remedymp

Sheiko37 wrote: »

I'm surprised at the responses. There's some cultures where having a nap during the day is encouraged, and yes at your desk. I know someone who worked in an office where everyone had a work issued pillow that they'd pull out from under their desk and literally sleep at their keyboard for 20 minutes. There's science showing it benefits your health and productivity. It's really outdated thinking to immediately dismiss the idea.

Having said that, it all really depends on your job, and the logistics and culture of your workplace.

I agree with this. It's almost as if some people have very limited experience in working outside their immediate surrounding. The last three places I've worked, they have "Mom rooms" or something similar where a person will go in to take a nap. And yes, this is in the US.

If the OP is either nodding off or sleeping at the desk because of unpaid OT, then it makes sense why this would happen.

networker050184

I think we can all clearly see the difference between a "mom room" and passing out at your desk.

Remedymp

networker050184 wrote: »

I think we can all clearly see the difference between a "mom room" and passing out at your desk.

I am not saying you should pass out at your desk. But, based on the OP description of working OT (whether or not it is unpaid or not) would be enough to warrant nodding off or napping at the desk. If there is nothing in the employee code of conduct that the forbids this, who the F cares?

I bring up the Mom room or similar area description as it is pretty common thing for people to nap on the job. Especially on their lunch break.

networker050184

Sure, nap all you want. As they say, there is a time and a place for everything though. At your desk certainly is not the place regardless of overtime. At least if you want to be taken seriously.

PJ_Sneakers

WWPGD? What would Peter Gibbons do?

cyberguypr

Who cares? Let's see: other colleagues, management, company owners, visitors, etc. You should really make an effort and try to see things from other people's standpoint. My employee handbook doesn't say I can't dance naked on top of my desk. Does that mean I can? If so, I've been interpreting it wrong for all these years.

I am sitting at a training right now next to a cop that has been working 7am-7pm this week, sleeping a bit in his car, starting training at 9AM, finishing at 4pm, sleeping a bit more n his car, and going to his shift at 7PM. If this guy is standing up and not nodding off, how in the world is napping at a desk OK?

PJ_Sneakers

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

beads

Really depends on culture and coworker expectations. Sorry a little OT feels excessive. I would have to guess this is your first salaried position? Get used to it. Many of us in the IT sector often work 50-60 hours a week simply to keep the train on the track, so to speak. Sometimes there just isn't going to be enough coverage to complete a critical project or enough wo/manpower hire-able (short staffed) or even the dread 5:05PM system melt down that has to be taken care of or the office doesn't work in the morning. Hey how much does having a couple thousand people sitting idle cost the company because you couldn't work on the core switch after hours? We'll get to it in the morning.

Ask coworkers first how best to handle the need for a nap and how they would handle the situation. You may find your supervisor is really good with it but his boss would fire you on the spot. Its hard to tell. As you can read above its subjective to each organization. Your going to have to learn how to feel your way through some of these hazards whenever you start a new position.

Now, don't get your backs up in the air over this last comment but if your reading closely many of the comments here fall pretty clearly into generational lines. Gen Y's and millennials (I know many hate those terms) see nothing wrong with napping whenever needbe while the older, more matured posters tend to see things through the organizations eyes and past, more likely, negative experiences. Correct me if I am wrong.

Me? I consider myself to be generation "Jones". Those of us between the boomers and Gen X.

Pro forma desk napping appliance! Had to.



Clearly comes in cubical gray. Handy for blending in.

- b/eads

PJ_Sneakers

Hey, can I get an award of participation for posting in this thread?

beads

PJ_Sneakers wrote: »

Hey, can I get an award of participation for posting in this thread?

Yes, your respective awards have been placed in your own 'safe spaces' and are ready to be collected after milk and cookie time followed by nap time. Try to squeeze all that in before heading home of the day. Got to be fresh before hitting the bar and all.

- b/eads

topandreuser

Everyone falls asleep at work. Think about it, your tired, waking up early, sitting in traffic. It's exhausting so I don' think you were wrong?

cyberguypr

Everyone? Do you have any empirical data to back that ridiculous claim?

Danielm7

topandreuser wrote: »

Everyone falls asleep at work. Think about it, your tired, waking up early, sitting in traffic. It's exhausting so I don' think you were wrong?

Sarcasm? I love IT, we all work desk jobs and talk about how brutal it is to drive in and sit all day.

jeremywatts2005

Sorry dude in most every case napping at the desk is a no go. I had to write a guy up over it and he was so mad at me. He ended up throwing a fit and quitting. Sleep in the car, a tent, a pay by the hour hotel or somewhere else but not the desk. I worked over nights and when it was break time or "lunch" I would let me staff sleep in the car as long as they set an alarm and returned. The one hour of sleep for the night shift helped many folks. Again though in the car out of sight.

PJ_Sneakers

beads wrote: »

Yes, your respective awards have been placed in your own 'safe spaces' and are ready to be collected after milk and cookie time followed by nap time. Try to squeeze all that in before heading home of the day. Got to be fresh before hitting the bar and all.

- b/eads

Wait, this ribbon is RED!!! I will be filing a complaint with HR tomorrow for using such an aggressive color.

...After I show up for work 30 minutes late because I was at Starbucks.

Techytach

Needed some of these:

scaredoftests

Techytach wrote: »

Needed some of these:

That is GREAT!! LOL

YesOffense

Yeah, no napping in the work area. Perception matters.

dhay13

hmmm. i used to get up at 4:00AM and drive 90 minutes. start at 7:00 and work till 5:30 then get home at 7:00. go to bed about 11:00PM and do it all over again. i NEVER slept at work.

OctalDump

So the best argument against this is "it looks bad, appears unprofessional, management might get the wrong impression".

The fact that short naps can improve productivity? Nah, let's not worry that it could actually be beneficial, let's just worry about how it looks.

What was that thing everyone was going on about last century? "Work smarter, not harder"?

doctorlexus

It's definitely going to depend on individual corporate environments. Some companies are more progressive and may not think anything of it, or they may have designated areas as someone mentioned. Other companies will never see it in a positive light. It's up to each employee to figure that out.

Like it or not, we still live in a culture heavily influenced by appearances and the superficial. There are still plenty of companies that value the wearing of a tie more than an employee's actual skill set.

fmitawaps

This reminds me of a desktop support job I had a couple years ago. 3 of the 5 man team was located in one office of one building, from which we would go out to other buildings as needed. Our "lead tech" who was a jackass in his own right, had a rule that our door was open from 9 to noon for walk ins, otherwise it was to be locked. People then had to knock, and there was a sign on the door for this. And apparently the IT director was ok with this.

So each day, once lunchtime hit, the door closed and it was chill time. The lead tech wasn't even there most of the time, which was fine with me and the other guy, the lead tech was kind of useless.

But many was the time I took a nice nap from lunchtime to 2 or 3, then left early for the day, under the guise of going to the other building 5 miles away to "look at someone's computer". I kind of would like to be back in that job now. There were also many times I came in an hour late because "I stopped at the other building on the way here".

If someone knocked on the door, that served as our alarm clock to wake up, and go open the door and make like we had been working for the last few hours.