Make it Happen Monday

Normally my Mondays are a drag.  I struggle to get out of bed, try on 5 outfits before I find a winner, enter the building with a fake grin on my face, take the stairs instead of the elevator to avoid small talk and then fight my way through the day making a to do list for Tuesday when I know that I will have my act together.

But not today!  I woke up from a very restful nights sleep.  I haven't sleep that good since I was put under anesthesia to have a tube put down my throat and into my stomach for a endoscopic x-ray 2 years ago, and that procedure only took about 10 minutes!  But I woke up a new person.

Anyway, this morning, I only snoozed once, and when I got up I had a new attitude.  Not sure if it was the sleep, a subconscious new look on life, or some telepathic sibling connection since today is my big brother's birthday, but by the time I was headed out the door, I singing "Ain't nothing gonna break my stride, nobody gonna slow me down, OH NO - I got to keep on movin'!"  (You know that song by "Men at Work" - OK I didn't know who sang it either, until I got to work and googled it.)  I still don't know where that came from, but let me tell you - it felt good!  I went into work hyped up and ready for anything.  Ready for the irate employee who is pissed off that I added his 3 children to his medical benefits due to a court order, ready for a colleague to interrupt my in progress phone call to ask me how to load paper into the copier and ready to debate why our company does not acknowledge common law spouses - on an average Monday, I would put my phone on mute and say "Because we don't!".  But today was different - I was making it happen - any and everything.   

Mondays don't have to be the dreaded day that its become.  So I am now making every Monday - Make it Happen Monday!  We are the creators of our own destiny - we get back what we put out and all those other cliches and phrases that mean the same thing - pick one and do that.

"Siesta, Siesta"

My recent work week schedule includes, working late, staying up even later once I get home to complete my errands and chores, and rising early to start the cycle all over again. I began to think that all who experience the same pain of sleep deprivation and unsightly dark circles and bags beneath their eyes as I, should ban together and demand "Nap rooms" be built for employees to take mid day naps to catch their second wind thus being more productive and better decision makers.

Those in the medical field have the privilege to take naps when working their long, most of the time around the clock hours - understandable. It's only people's lives and health that they are responsible for - which is the reason they need sleep. Medical professionals need to make sure they are in their right minds when making life altering decisions. But what about those who work in a manufacturing environment, running gigantic machines, cutting materials, welding metals, and assembling parts - can you say "Worker's Comp". In my corporate career path, I had to make sure I wasn't hiring thieves to work in banks, allowing benefits to be offered to ineligible dependents or negotiating inconsistent pay rates and benefits that could drive the company into bankruptcy affecting the financial health of the company. No matter what job you have being sleepy ~ is being sleepy and being too sleepy is a risk to the company and those it serves.

The Blueprint:

I imagine rooms designed at job sites similar to smoking areas mixed with the private phone booths at the airport with choices of windows/no windows lite or darkened to your liking. If you are like me, you are concerned about the sanitary aspect of this "Nap Room" endeavor, but to participate in this benefit, employees would need to bring their own bedding, sheets and pillows. Disinfecting of the rooms will take place between use by a mechanism that sprays disinfectants from the ceilings and walls. A locker room will be available to store bedding to prevent the inconvenience of lugging items to and from work. There will be timers that serve as alarm clocks only allowing one to sleep 15 to 30 (maximum) minutes a day. Once time is up - a loud buzzer sounds and the room illuminates with bright lights indicating your siesta is over and its back to work. Thirty minutes a day is the maximum allowed. Each employee needs to have a card with a code in which their time spent in the "Nap Room" is documented. It can work similar to a debit card- where you only spend what is on the card. Employees must charge up their cards in order to use it. Restrictions include: charging will take place once a week and there is no rollover time allowed. You must use it or lose it. Lastly, this would require a "Nap Time Coordinator" position to be created and added to ensure no one abuses this benefit, and is present to trouble shoot any glitches, malfunctions and discrepancies.

Ahhh - I'm getting sleepy thinking about it. I think I am going to take a nap.

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