***Fell Asleep At work ***

IS3

Master Of Puppets wrote: »

Also, try not to get too comfortable in your chair

I did this by using a non ergo chair LOL

Verities

I've never been able to fall asleep at work....probably because my caffeine intake is pretty high. The only times I come close to I've been very hungover, which used to happen a lot in the military.

IS3

I saw some companies where they would allow their workers to take an hour "walk break" so they wont gain weight i guess. i wish i had an hr to nap on top of my usual lunch break

daviddws

Not trying to sound too harsh.. but dude don't be an idiot. Take your downtime and get more certifications or schooling. If you keep yourself busy, these things will not happen to you! There will be a time when you are working a job with NO downtime and you will WISH you took advantage of that situation!

Xyro

Very good advice ^

Darxtar

IS3 wrote: »

Anyway, for some reason i have a lot of downtime and i would catch my self surfing the web more than using my time for something i would benefit like reading, doing training etc. and just now about 45 minutes ago i fell asleep for like 30 minutes but no one noticed since everyone is busy in their own role.

When you have some downtime try updating your resume. You will need it when you get caught sleeping or surfing the web...

IS3

daviddws wrote: »

Not trying to sound too harsh.. but dude don't be an idiot. Take your downtime and get more certifications or schooling. If you keep yourself busy, these things will not happen to you! There will be a time when you are working a job with NO downtime and you will WISH you took advantage of that situation!

I like this one cause he made sure he acted like my parents before giving the advice

IS3

Darxtar wrote: »

When you have some downtime try updating your resume. You will need it when you get caught sleeping or surfing the web...

Now this is perfect! im adding this to my checklist

Xyro

Both scenarios are wrong since they are both examples of bad work ethics.

White Wizard

Surely there is some way you can contribute to the business in your downtime or study for certs. If your at a local bank their should be other IT staff their no? If so, talk to the network admin and learn all you can, express your interest to learn.

My first thought is you need to get to bed sooner. I don't know about others but I do best with 9 hours of sleep.

I am able to squeeze in overtime, hit the gym, knock out my online classes, study for certs, and still get 9 hours of sleep so it is not impossible.

If you have a wife/ family then I can understand not getting enough sleep, either way be productive though. If you have tons of downtime let your supervisor or manager know and see if there is anything you can help out with.

This is just my mentality though.

SweenMachine

Xyro wrote: »

I feel strongly about it because it is unacceptable to sleep while you are supposed to be working.

I am glad.

There simply has been a miscommunication here. The words "falling asleep at work" generally mean falling asleep while you are at work and should be working. I have no issue with someone who sleeps on breaks. That is not company time. It is a break. You can do (within limitations) whatever you wish with break time as it is your time, not company time.

To fall asleep at work though is completely unacceptable. You can feel it coming on. As others have said, get up and walk around.

I have worked 3 jobs and been in school, all simultaneously. I know what tired is but I would never let myself fall asleep at work.

I hear what you are saying. I currently work 2 jobs and go to school, in addition to studying for certs and family. So yeah, I am tired all.the.time. If I pull down 4 hours a night during the work week, I am pleased. Which is why I nap for at least 90 mins during my shifts, but yeah, ALWAYS on my scheduled personal breaks (lunch, ect)

I guess when I saw "asleep at work" it didn't mean "asleep WHILE working" -- Two different thoughts to me, so I now see your perspective. I have never fallen asleep WHILE working, even though I have been on the 3rd shift for 7 years now; there was always plenty for me to do haha

-scott

RHEL

Never happened to me before, but I know a couple people it has happened to...

1) A friend from high school went out on a Friday to some bonfire party out in the woods... Stayed up late, drank a lot... I remember having to find a rest stop for him to change into his work clothes in the morning -- it was his first day at a major grocery store chain as a stocker. I later found out that he was caught sleeping on this first day... The kid literally fell asleep IN one of those aisle freezers as he was stocking food in there. He wasn't fired -- actually, he was there a few years until he was fired for keeping keg deposits and trading beer to local businesses for pizzas and such.

2) I worked with this super slob of a UNIX admin at my first job. He would graze all morning, eating loaves of bread, blocks of cheese, microwaved fish, etc. At 10AM and 2PM, you'd see him leaning over in his chair snoring. The guy on the other side of the cube slept a lot too and snored loudly. OH! Same employer: another UNIX admin there fell asleep in the middle of a corporate security workshop and it was extremely obvious. She was facing the chief security officer who was presenting and the people sitting next to her kept jabbing her to wake her up.

I've felt extremely tired at work before, though, and have made a trip out to my car for a quick nap. Much better than falling asleep at your desk or in a freezer, IMO.

Danielm7

Since we're also talking about times you slept while AT work vs actually working... about 10 years ago I worked for a crazy startup, we'd get these nutty timelines and client demands and would frequently pull all nighters working. At one point the manager bought a couple blankets and pillows so people could alternate times crashing under their desk for awhile. The worst I ever did there ran through 2 nights, the only time I dozed off was during the drive home and I was woken up by the rumble strips on the side of the road, thankfully no accident.

As for the people saying EVERY free second should be used for studying, there shouldn't be anything wrong with being somewhat social at work, taking a short break every once in awhile, etc. I just don't think it's overly healthy to spend EVERY second you are alive studying.

Hypntick

Last place I was at one of my co-workers would do the lunch break nap in the car. Owner of the company saw him sleeping in his car one day (during his unpaid lunch I may add) and fired him on the spot. Guy was 100% solid in every aspect, he just always slept through his lunch, which I don't see an issue with personally.

Now when I worked the late shift at another position, yeah it'd be about 2-3 am and you could walk around and since it was so dead people would be sleeping pretty soundly. I never did however, I spent my downtime studying for certs, always seemed more productive.

Danielh22185

I can honestly say I have NEVER fallen asleep at any job I have ever had. I can understand some people with new borns etc. that might lose a lot of sleep but I don't see how you can't feel it. I may have never fallen asleep but yes I do get groggy from time to time. Espically if I had a big lunch. Make a habbit of getting up and moving around. I purposfully go to bathrooms on the other side of the building to give myself some walking time to get the blood flowing also its healthy to just move around period. I have a job where I sit in a command center 11-12hrs a day so I make a habbit of getting up and moving around.

Chivalry1

I recommend using your lunch to get some sleep. You will be amazed how much this helps re-engerize you during the day. These days I have no time for sleep at work. Sometimes you can sit your desk and become tired, but move around go and talk with Co-Workers, etc. Plus it helps me build steps on my Nike Fuel-band (Pedometer).

Xyro

SweenMachine wrote: »

I guess when I saw "asleep at work" it didn't mean "asleep WHILE working" -- Two different thoughts to me, so I now see your perspective.

Glad we cleared up the miscommunication.

Jon_Cisco

About 20 years ago I feel asleep sitting up staring at my computer. Yeah I was tired we worked 60 to 80 hours a week on the overnight shift.
I don't actually remember it but my coworkers said they watched me for 15 minutes to see if I would put my head down.

I don't feel bad I was being productive and it happened. What is important is to learn from this and don't let it happen again.

I agree with all the post that suggest getting up and moving around. I use a stand up desk at my current job because I think it's better on my back and keeps me more alert when doing anything repetitive for a long time. I alternate between standing and sitting on a stool.

The second thing that I think is important is to stay mentally active. Staring at a website or video will not keep you awake. Your mind needs to be thinking. This might not make sense at first but when the video becomes background noise it's because your mind is checking out. You could fall asleep pretty easy at that point. So take a few seconds to reprocess what you just saw and you mind will wake back up.

Same goes for driving. Don't stare straight ahead. Scan the sides of the roads to keep you eyes and mind active.

Don't let it happen again.
Good Luck!

JaneDoe

When I've worked on political campaigns it's been to the norm to keep sleeping materials in the office and use them when working really late and then early the following morning. If you work a salary job, where they don't really care about counting the minuets you're on/off the clock, taking a power nap in the office can be acceptable, depending on the situation and workplace culture.

It really depends why you're falling asleep at work; if you're falling asleep at work because you're hungover, that's inexcusable, but if you're falling asleep at work because you've been working for 20 hours straight on a critical project, and need to catch a few hours to stay productive, that's a different story.

lotsill2

I had a job back in the day working 12 hour grave yard shifts in a datacenter on the weekend. Would always crash for 30 minutes or so.
If I eat pasta, pizza, rice, Chinese food, I will crash and crash hard.
The onsight of eyes closing you should get up walk around, stretch, throw water on your face.

Oh ya, avoid meetings with business leaders and any topics around ITIL. I could take 2 5 hours energy drinks and ITIL will still put me to sleep.

tprice5

lotsill2 wrote: »

I could take 2 5 hours energy drinks and ITIL will still put me to sleep.

I hold the MALC and the CCIE on the same pedistal as the amount of effort taken to master Cisco technology is equal to the amount of effort to stay awake during the MALC practicum.

mokaiba

lotsill2 wrote: »

If I eat pasta, pizza, rice, Chinese food, I will crash and crash hard.

Its because of, like I mentioned on page two, the increase of glucose will cause you to become tired. This can also happen if you eat the carb-rich foods the night before and eat a poor breakfast. Your glucose will crash and make you drowsy as well.

If you didnt know, carbs convert into glucose. glucose of a form of sugar.

Transatlantic

I've found that using a B12 supplement helps me maintain a good energy level throughout the day. I try and stay away from sugary drinks, and only have coffee in the morning.

markulous

Only time I've even come close was years ago when I worked at a gas station doing the graveyard shift. There would be periods of time where no one would come in there and my body never really adjusted to that. I couldn't imagine doing that in any other job.

Brianw68

It can happen- lots of coffee needed!

LionelTeo

Fact: Apples wake the body better than caffeine

Apples can wake you up better than coffee! - OMG Facts

What you can do its simply to buy a book from Amazon and start studying, sometimes I brought my own laptop to do some how my practicals if I had the free time at work. Beside that, there is a lot of time wasted travelling around back and fro to work. Since I took public transport, I spent time reading books on public transport, now I am moving on to spending time walking around listening to pop cast. The result is 12000 pages of book covered along with 8 IT Security Certifications in two years and getting 40% to 80% increments between jobs, while at time same time not taking up my personal time on relaxing at home and with my gf.

egrizzly

You have to find something that's "engaging". Watch some cool movies if they let you or study for some really juicy certifications. Sleeping really sucks since they can use it to fire you even when there's nothing going on to do