A brief siesta or a nap in the afternoon may be a national passion in Spain, Taiwan, Japan, and most of the older cultures on earth, but in the U.S. work world, it has long been considered taboo.  Nevertheless, if things are to be believed, then the siesta could be the newest trend.  With an American-legal-workplace twist, it’s now being  called the Power Nap.For quite some time now, experts have been warning about the ill effects of sleep deprivation and workplace fatigue.  Sleep deprivation leads to reduced service quality, affects decision-making abilities, and impairs judgment.  A sleep-deprived person loses concentration, and his capacity to handle complex tasks is severely affected.

Though in employment law, the killing effects of sleep deprivation have become well recognized with cases like Truitt v. J.H. Kelly Construction Co. and Favery v. McDonald’s Corp., law firms still continue with rigorous billable hours.  And it is the billable hours that give young lawyers those sleepless nights.  They turn energetic young people into zombies.  The irony is that no firm would knowingly want such a person (showing the results of sleep-deprivation) on their payroll. With the
industry trend now turning more to worker retention than acquisition, the siesta, or the afternoon nap is starting to be offered as a perk.  A number of Washington, DC law firms are already known to have on-site rest rooms and care centers, and now New York firms are also starting to see the advantages.  Leading IP law firm Kilpatrick Stockton of Raleigh, NC has recently been in the news for its famous Power Room, used for taking the afternoon nap.

I pray the trend continues and spreads quickly throughout the entire country.  Oh, I would take a nap in the middle of mywork day!