I have a little life hack for you here that I find extraordinarily useful (and I'm about to use any minute).
Some days, I get to work from home, and other days, I work in the practice, but I've never got a session where I'm wall to wall, 9 to 5, with patients where I can't get a break.
If I get a break at home (which I almost always do) or I get a break at work, I go for a nap if I haven't had a nap that day.
I've convinced myself of late that this is a bad thing because I'm getting old and I'm getting tired, but it turns out I've been doing this since Grace was born, over 20 years ago.
On the dental chair in the middle of the day, or even in the soft play ball pool with my son Callum when he was about 3 years old, I remember I was exhausted as a parent getting up in the night and needed to try and catch up in my sleep and a lot of the time now I'm tired because I'm working too hard or doing too much, and I need to try and catch up.
And so, when I do need to do that, I lie down. If I'm at work, I put some little headphones in my ears and listen to what's called my yoga playlist (really lovely soft songs that I know well), but the most important thing is that I close my eyes and I count backwards from 60 and if I get to 0, I don't need a nap and I get back up.
The truth is I rarely get to 0. Actually, I rarely ever get to 40, and I'm gone for 10, and then I'm up again, and it's a lot better.
Sleep is really, really important, and short naps in the middle of the day for people who feel tired are well-proven to be really, really healthy and restorative.
It's best probably not to sleep for too long.
If you're into drinking coffee, have a strong coffee just before you nap. It's transformational and feels like luxury, like the greatest gift to yourself; it's a wonderful, wonderful break in the middle of the day.
It works on dental chairs if you're a dentist or a nurse. It works on the little sofa in my office. I've napped on the floor. It works on my sofa cuddled up to my little sausage dog (that's what works the best), but honestly, don't be scared or ashamed of that, it's priceless.
Blog Post Number - 4104