Is it nap time yet?

One of the most enduring memories of my first pregnancy is the desperate desire I had to crawl under my work cubical and fall asleep. Could I even get down there and positioned comfortably? Could I do it and somehow be invisible? I was so tired!

I never did the cubical crawl, but I enjoyed leaving the building during my lunch break, so I could drive somewhere, eat something, and then nap in my car. Or I would take my break to sleep in the “Jim Dine Room” at work, named after the American artist whose print hung above a very lovely couch.

We all need rest, and most of us are sorely “behind” on getting enough sleep and time to relax and rejuvenate. With my coaching clients, in addition to working through career and leadership challenges, we often discuss issues like self-care and balancing work with other life roles and interests. Much of the time, people prioritize the never-ending list of work responsibilities over things like taking care of ourselves, taking breaks, and enjoying activities outside of work.

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How much space does your paid work take up in your overall life?

Do you make time to rest and sleep enough at night?

To what extent are you satisfied with your current work-life balance, integration, or whatever you want to call it?
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I believe that work-life balance is still important, even as so many professionals rejected that specific phrase years ago, preferring instead to proclaim the benefits of “work-life integration”. I believe there are times in life when your paid work should not be on your mind at all. That’s my bias when it comes to one’s quality of life.

In these times of unrelenting chaos and appalling displays of everything but leadership in the news, let us do what we need to do at work, but pace ourselves for the long haul.

Take care – and remember the beauty of nap time!


​*This blog post was originally posted as a LinkedIn post on 4/3/2025. If you want to Comment on or Repost this piece of writing, please do so from LinkedIn using the link below. Thank you!

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