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Here’s something I wrote in a 15-min struggle against a post-lunch slumber somes years ago. I believe I lost that day.

Contrary to popular belief, the Spanish siesta is not symptomatic of a work-shy culture. Spain has been, till recently, an agricultural, rural society. People worked in the open, or in buildings without luxuries like air-conditioning or climate control. With the Spanish sun being intolerably hot, the best way to get over the hottest period of the day (the afternoon), was to sleep it away because no work could be done in the heat anyway. As such, people woke very early in the morning, worked till early afternoon, and then knocked off.

In addition, the Spanish heat also meant that it was difficult to sleep at night. As such, many Spanish towns and villages had taverns and restaurants that were opened till the early morning because people just could not sleep. To compensate, they slept during the afternoons for a couple of hours.

It was also not uncommon for Spanish business meetings and functions to be scheduled late at night because people did continue to work after the afternoon siesta. In fact, in the European Union today, the Spanish working hours are the longest. But the Brits will soon make them toe the line.

Now, it has been scientifically and anthropologically researched that the siesta is very beneficial to physical, mental and emotional well-being – especially in the post-industrial age of deadlines and endless chase for productivity.

Of course, it would be hard and darn disruptive to have a two hour siesta nowadays. The work culture that we practise today stems from the Northern European’s Protestant work ethics. They never had a need for siestas because of their better climate. And unlike the Catholic Spanish, the Protestant Europeans sought to prove their worth and justify their doctrine of pre-destined salvation by working like mad for it. The logic went something like “even if I am pre-destined to be saved, I have to work like mad to produce the goods because that is the only way I (and others) would know that I am pre-destined for better things, like eternal salvation”.

Hence, the lifestyle that we lead nowadays. Always striving, never stopping. So, STOP right now, rest your elbows on your desk, put your face into the palms of your hands, and close your eyes for 15 mins.

Let the power nap start! Rejuvenate; enter R.E.M. and dream a little; let your drool dribble down your sleeves. Then wake up feeling a bit more relaxed, feeling sharper and ready to work till 11pm because if you do not, that intern is going to get your job!

(If you are working at Convertium, drop the thought of a power nap right now.)