If you’re amongst the lucky to be able to work from home, you have now realized that it feels only absolutely right to plan and incorporate a daily 15-20 minute slumber, to regenerate before logging back in. Working from home has its many benefits although, it can also have you feeling more overworked than when you were back in the office. One logical explanation could be that now, without the commute to and from the office and your now stationary routine at home has you feeling like you're working more hours and perhaps even overtime. Not to mention, if you forget to take breaks throughout the day it can be a huge culprit in developing borderline WFH burnout.
The Solution? What we are now coining the Zest Nap, a mini beauty respite for 15-20 minutes preferably taken at either the last 15-minutes of your lunch break or at the 3:00 PM hour. The sleep quickie will allow you moments to rest your eyelids from staring at a computer or laptop screen (hopefully through Blu-ray lenses), for you to consciously steady your heart rate, reset your system and focus your brainwaves, with a burst of energy for increased alertness and sharpened motor performance in prep for the final hours of your workday. Detailed below are some tips on how you can implement the zest nap on a daily basis to re-up your working from home energy.
Create a zest-nap ritual—Before you power down, you'll need to tell your body to do so ritually so that when you do it daily, it happens with ease. We're creatures of habit and doing the same routine before winding down each time is absolutely critical in creating a this new sleep ritual. Whatever tranquility-evoking-act whether it's closing the blinds/curtains to dim the sunlight, putting on your noise canceling headphones to play a mellow playlist or pressing play on a meditation app—which will help send signals to your brain that it's nap time, get relaxed.
Create the ambiance — Turn off or close your curtains to dim the daylight, get your sleep mask on and hit the hay for 15-20 minutes. Place your phone on your silent and pause your emails yes, you can do that! Remember even the urgent messages can wait 15 minutes.
You must use an alarm— The key to a smooth wake-up is an alarm to pull you back out of slumber and into the real world. Make sure the time and sound you set will get you back up again with certainty.
At the very least just give yourself a break— If a zest nap's aren’t in the cards the next best thing is to just take a break from your computer. Step away from the screen and give your eyelids the rest they need. Per my optometrist Dr. Ruth Lipson of Optical Connection, Studio City C.A., in order to increase lower eyelid oil production that prevents dry and itchy exhausted eyes be sure to blink rapidly in 20-second intervals for 60 seconds.
