Nap desks | Hacker News Reader

Nap desks

hellogiggles.com

35 pointswyclif41 comments

What is with all the comments about 'potential for abuse'? Are so many people in so many offices really like little children trying to get paid for as little work as possible - or is this just some kind of twisted disciplinarianism leaking out? From what I see of people regularly staying late, and working through lunch with a sandwich in one hand and typing with the other, on average the opposite problem holds...

I believe at least one of the two "abuse" comments is referring to the company abusing it by using it as an excuse to demand more overtime, less time at home, etc. That, I believe, is a legitimate fear.

I worked at a company that had a room with a couple of cots for people to grab a quick power nap.

They took it away because certain people were having their significant others over for lunch and using them for sex. :(

But did that increase productivity?

Good question. I'm not sure anyone thought to ask. That place was such a madhouse, I'm kind of surprised that was something people complained about.

Yeah, conjugal visits at work would be great :).

I was just thinking about this today - have nap rooms with some privacy glass that is opaque enough so the nap room users don't feel like they're in a fishbowl, yet transparent enough so it's obvious when other "relief" action is going on (and the users know it) - and tell the users they're recorded through the glass.

Make sure the room is not unlit though. Daytime naps shouldn't require darkness.

> Make sure the room is not unlit though. Daytime naps shouldn't require darkness.

Darkness actually makes it much easier to fall asleep, and to get deeper sleep.

We have these[1] at work.

Close the hatch and you block out the light and I assume feel some sense of privacy, but there's certainly no hiding a second person in there with you.

[1] http://d3z1rkrtcvm2b.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/...

I tried napping in one of these once: it was pretty uncomfortable, since you're still sitting fairly upright (imagine an airplane seat tilted backwards), and I find the pod to do little for me in terms of blocking the surroundings, especially noise.

What if you like sleeping on your side or your belly or anything that isn't on your back? My spine groaned just looking at that ...

How come there are no George Costanza references ?

Just came to post this https://youtu.be/W__qCFWi1KA?t=2m14s

Although it'll never happen, I wish the US would adopt siestas.

I adopted siestas years ago. When I worked at companies I would often take a nap at lunch in my car parked in a shady spot. Now I have my own office I still take a 15 minute- half hour nap most days (but on my own time). I'm a firm believer that to be at their best, people should eat and sleep when they feel the need.

Why is there a monitor on the bottom? Is the monitor used for watching TV/Movies? I can understand the benefit of naps at work, but a TV? Come on. If you must watch recreational videos, do so upstairs on your normal monitor.

Also overhang of the desk suggests that your feet would occupy that space when sitting. Why is the monitor facing away and the chair on the wrong side? The staging of this nap desk, makes me suspicious.

Re: the overhang - that was so obvious and the fact that the writer didn't know why you would need that suggests they have never sat at a work desk.

Is the next thing the "studio desk" with small kitchen and bathroom attached? Why commute after all? Live at the office.

Fortunately, that violates most local zoning ordinances.

Something like this:): http://coolcomputersetups.com/images/037770.jpg

This is pretty cool and all but a comfy office couch is pretty sufficient for power naps during siesta hour.

The way the pillow sits on the slanted wall doesn't look comfortable, is it ergonomical?

It's so you can watch the screen better. When you sleep you can slide down.

I cant imagine how uncomfortable it would be to nap at someone's feet or have someone else napping at my feet while I'm trying to work.

If it were a dog bed though that would be nice. I could work with a four-legged companion at my feet.

How large would your offices have to be to realistically accommodate a team of people using these desks? They look neat to me but I can't imagine buying them because of the spacial concerns alone.

But how to avoid coworkers from pulling pranks on you while you sleep?

by working in an environment of adults :)

In that case you won't need it at all, as in an "environment of adults" you would have a responsible boss who is capable of proper project management, so you won't have to work through the night just to meet deadlines.

Naps are good even if you don’t work through the night.

The moment you have a baby, you immediately regret all the times past that you could have napped and didn't.

I was hoping for a technical solution.

Firewall?

See the Seinfeld episode when George Costanza hires a contractor to furnish a hidden napping space under his desk.

The potential for abuse seems high to me. I say that as someone what worked at a company where people kept sleeping bags near the their desk so they could stay all night to meet deadlines.

I've also worked at companies that had rooms full of cots for sleeping over night when on a deadline even though apparently the laws in that country, Japan, prohibit sleeping over night at the office. Japan is notorious for not actually enforcing their labor laws.

I would run the other way if this was advertised as a plus at a company.

To me, "We have nap desks!" denotes a certain expectation of working unsustainable amounts of hours.

Yeah, basically the only way this wouldn't scare me off would be if it was explicitly advertised as a siesta-style schedule - e.g. everybody works X hours/day but with a break of an hour or two in the middle of the day to do whatever... and even only then if I was actually convinced it wouldn't be used to pressure for unpaid work.

I would be elated if I had a desk that was longer than I am tall.

That would nearly double the size!

I have a desk like that (one out of a set rebuilt from giant wooden doors, of all things), but I find I only use maybe 6/10ths of the space.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nap

This would be awesome anywhere than the place I get paid to work. The abuse potential is way too hi.

Some kind of anti-ad-blocking script causing the images to disappear a second after loading all the other Pintrest shit?

Sorry, don't care that much.

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