Friday FYI: The Legal Performance-Enhancer

How you can get a job promotion, finish the Tour de France, become an art icon and discover electricity in just 20 minutes between 2 and 3pm.

SHEEP AT WORK

Da Vinci took it. Edison took it. Lance Armstrong takes it any chance he gets. We’re talking about the power nap. Research in recent years has confirmed the tremendous recuperative value of power naps in improving our everyday quality of life. Here’s the low-down on how to go down.

WHY

• Less stress
• Higher productivity
• Better memory and learning capacity
• Improved creativity and motivation
• Heart and brain health
• Stable energy levels
• Improved alertness and focus

WHEN

• Between 2 and 3pm is ideal
• Napping later makes you more likely to fall into deep sleep and wake up groggy

HOW LONG

• Ideally, 20-30 minutes — the perfect duration to recharge both muscles and memory capacity, purging your brain of useless information build-up and opening up more space in your long-term memory tank
• You can also try a nano-nap (10-20 seconds, just putting your head down) or a micro-nap (2-5 minutes) for a quick kick at sleepiness

BONUS TIPS

• Avoid high amounts of caffeine, fat or sugar 60-90 minutes before your nap time (and at all times, really, but we won’t judge)
• Try to darken your nap area or put on one of those dorky eyeshades — helps your body produce melatonin, the sleep-inducing hormone
• Don’t forget to set an alarm — if you oversleep on a nap, you may end up less Energizer Bunny and more Easter Bunny from The Shining

And don’t forget to pass this on to your boss — that way, you can point the finger our way when she raises a could-be-disapproving-could-be-inquisitive eyebrow at your eyeshade. Now, go. It’s almost nap time.

>>> via Ririan Project

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Down With The Man | Part 4

Why The Man hates Canadians. Welcome to the Down With The Man issue: Part 4.

SHUTTING PANDORA’S BOX

If you’re like us and have a severe chronic email compulsion, you’ll both love and hate the newest 2.0 holiday: this Saturday, May 3, is Shutdown Day. That’s right, if you ever feel like The Man’s got you by the throat by way of your own computer, now’s your chance — sure, there are bound to be withdrawal symptons, but we’ll be right there with ya shaking off the offline jitters.

The non-profit organization is the brainchild of Denis Bystrov, a Canadian computer programmer who partnered with British filmmaker Michael Taylor in 2007 to spread awareness about the far-reaching effects — physical, mental, social, environmental — of today’s excessive consumption of all things i. We find it fascinating because it’s such a perfect metaphor for the good/evil dichotomy of the web: the initiative could easily become one of the largest Internet-based global experiments as its success hangs solely on the power of the social web, but its “success” by definition also urges us to reduce the use of this very same medium.

We also dig the way it puts things into perspective environmentally: if a single 24-hour period of shutdown could save 6814.8 kilowatt hours of energy in the U.S. alone just from the people who have already registered, imagine the impact of reduced everyday global computer use in the long run.

But, let’s face it: between Facebook hurling friend birthday reminders at you, your boss sending you those pesky “if you get a chance…” weekend emails and your bank bombarding you with e-statements, you sure could use a full-on, no-buts, no-peeks breather — and make a difference all at the same time. Besides pledging you’re in, you can also join the Shutdown Day Facebook group or even be part of an offline flash mob in your area.

So go ahead, pencil it in your calendar. Oh, who are we kidding — we know you don’t have a paper one and haven’t touched a pencil in years. But, hey, that’s one iCal event reminder you’ll be looking forward to.