I’ve been coming across a lot of articles on sleep - or lack of sleep - lately. The latest one I read from the BBC didn’t reveal anything that I don’t know about yet, but towards the end it did talk about inemuri:
Napping at work isn’t acceptable in the UK, but in Japan dozing anywhere from Parliament to business meetings is allowed. It’s called inemuri, which literally means “to be asleep while present”.
Japan’s ex-prime minister shows how it’s doneThe custom is partly a result of how commitment to a job is judged in Japan, says Dr Brigitte Steger. Inemuri is viewed as exhaustion from working hard and sacrificing sleep at night. Many people fake it to look committed to their job.
It’s a concept that seems bizarre in the UK but the Japanese are the ones who’ve got it right, says Dr Stanley.
“The Japanese are right in their assessment that you work better after a nap than before it. There’s a degree of machismo about it, you’re saying look how hard I’ve worked. But that’s better than the macho rituals we have over here, like how late you can send a work email to prove how long you’ve been working.”
Strict rules apply to inemuri. These include who is allowed to do it - only those high up or low down in a company - and how you do it - remain upright to show you are still socially engaged in some way.
Junichiro Koizumi looks a little like my grandma in that photo.
Inemuri sounds like a good idea. Napping in general is a good idea. However, can I really nap while sitting up? My friends tell me that I am a stealthy napper, but I’m not sure if they’re saying it out of kindness.
During this semester, I have really long days on Tuesday and Thursday. Since my promise to myself to sleep at least eight hours a night - so far, I’ve pulled no all-nighters and get about seven to eight hours, six if I have a lot of work piled up - I noticed that I can make it through the day. During my late afternoon class - 4:15pm-5:30pm - I will get sleepy but I won’t fall asleep.
If I don’t get eight hours, I let myself fall asleep for about ten minutes and wake up. I feel somewhat less sleepy; not totally refreshed but reassured that I won’t fall asleep again. This is a larger class, so I’m not sure how my technique will transfer to smaller classes or seminars.
Links of Interest:
Napping in the office, unseen (flakmag)
Blogging about Inemuri (in media res)
Sleep and obesity in kids (new york times)
Sleep-Industrial complex (new york times)
Those lazy French (new york times)
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