Energy Pods let Google Employees Snooze in Style

Here’s one big reason why Google is consistently near the top of every annual “Best Companies to Work For” list. Among the many well-documented perks of working for Google is the leeway to step away from the desk and take a nap. Google stands out from the other companies with nap rooms by offering a stylistically futuristic sleep pod right out of the show Caprica.

That oversized salon hair dryer you see above is a state-of-the-art Energy Pod made by Metronaps. The reclining bed underneath the big white visor looks a lot like a dental chair.

Features include a built-in music player that produces soothing sounds and an alarm that wakes users up with a gentle combination of lights and vibration.

The Metronaps Energy Pod retails for around $8,000 - no small price, but still less expensive than ludicrously priced European luxury beds.

Google’s solution to workplace fatigue appears to be a preferable alternative to lunchtime car naps or sneaky catnaps in the bathroom stalls. It’s good to see the world’s most influential tech firm notice the building scientific evidence of the performance benefits of napping. Now if only more companies would adopt this practice maybe we’ll all stop looking down on workplace naps... I’m looking at you Ken Griffey Jr.

Big Dreams: From Google to Monster

Dreams have no meaning? Don’t tell that to Larry Page. Or Jeff Taylor.

Page recently said that a dream sparked the idea that became the world’s largest search engine. This is how the Google co-founder explained it in his commencement address at the University of Michigan:

You know what it's like to wake up in the middle of the night with a vivid dream? And you know how, if you don't have a pencil and pad by the bed to write it down, it will be completely gone the next morning? Well, I had one of those dreams when I was 23. When I suddenly woke up, I was thinking: what if we could download the whole web, and just keep the links and...I grabbed a pen and started writing! Sometimes it is important to wake up and stop dreaming.

His conclusion? “When a really great dream shows up, grab it!”



Page’s story sounds a lot like Taylor’s. The Monster.com founder recently told Roger Ziegler about his dream:

I woke up from the dream and sketched out the entire idea. The idea for a happy monster logo and the concept of ‘big, not scary,’ the design of the buyer-seller marketplace which is still in place to this day and a really important patent, all came out of that dream.

Ziegler added that Taylor keeps a dream journal next to his bed. This allows him to write ideas down when he wakes up.

How about you? Do you write down “big ideas” that you get from your dreams?

Read more about interpreting dreams on the Sleep Education Blog. Learn more about dreams and nightmares on SleepEducation.com.

The Curious Case of the Sleep E-mailer

Add e-mailing to the long list of behaviors that can occur during an episode of sleepwalking.

The journal Sleep Medicine has an article “in press” that will appear in an upcoming issue. It describes the case of a woman who sent some strange e-mails while she was asleep.

Sleepwalking can involve routine or unusual behaviors. Examples include making phone calls, walking outside or eating. But this is the first reported case of sleep e-mailing.

The New York Times reports that the woman was taking Ambien for her insomnia. The sleep e-mailing occurred after she decided on her own to increase her dose.

Like any other drug, sleep medications may cause some side effects. These side effects can include sleepwalking, sleep eating and other complex sleep behaviors. Some people also may experience memory problems.

The AASM Tips for Taking Sleep Medications note that you should follow your doctor’s instructions when taking a sleeping pill. Never increase the dose on your own. You also should only take the sleeping pill for as many days or weeks as your doctor tells you.

The Times article also reports that a new feature from Google could help protect sleepwalkers from sending embarrassing e-mails. It’s called Mail Goggles.

When enabled, it stops you from sending late-night e-mails on weekends. Before a message is sent, you have to solve a few math problems. The intent is to force you to stop and consider if you really want to send the message.

The math problems are fairly simple. But for a sleepwalker, it might be enough to prevent you from sending a strange e-mail to a co-worker or friend.

Update 03/02/09: The article appears in the February 2009 issue (volume 10, issue 2) of Sleep Medicine.