In Praise of Naps for a Productive Sales Day

In my sales tip yesterday, I wondered aloud about how my age might be a contributing factor to the choice and quality of certain sales tasks. A couple of interesting exchanges with readers led me to expand on one aspect of that submission, the afternoon nap.

I'm a fan of biographies and, to a lesser extent, autobiographies. I first noticed the correlation between success and the use of a quick nap when I read about Armand Hammer. Subsequently, virtually every successful human being I read about made mention and gave credit to the value of hitting the reset button through a quick 10 minutes spent horizontal here or there.

My father was the treasurer to the Episcopal Diocese of, first Eastern, and then Western Massachusetts. His day started early and often included an evening event. Dad could recline in his favorite chair, ask me to wake him in 10 minutes, then inhale and exhale and instantly be asleep — a talent he attributed to his time in the Army Air Corps. He'd wake with a snort, and then be off to his after-dinner meeting.

It was incredible. I've never seen anyone able to replicate that feat.

For most of us, the early afternoon is a struggle. Depending on what we had for lunch, our body focuses on breaking down the food we've just eaten at the expense of our energy level. Try as we may, we can't seem to perform our tasks at anything close to an acceptable level.

The nap is a perfect solution.

Sadly, society likens napping with child-like behavior (something your grow out of) or for the elderly (something you give in to). I think the nap needs a social media campaign to change that image. Naps are fantastic. Spending 8-10 minutes even lightly asleep rejuvenates and re-energizes. It’s just enough to recharge but not enough to affect your normal sleep pattern.

The sooner you embrace the power of napping, the faster you will reap the benefits.

So, let’s all lay out our blankets. Now inhale, exhale, and I’ll see you in a few...

And when you wake up, check out The Sales Vault at SalesVault.pro to learn how to join the #1 sales community in all the graphic arts. Or call Bill Farquharson at 781-934-7036.