Why do engineers who are responsible for the future of the company take naps? [Siesta System]

 

So I'm finally making my blog debut

Finally, Leader Okazaki

 

you know about the "siesta system"

The word "siesta" comes from the Latin word for a midday break

Lunch in Spain is later than in Japan, and it is customary to sleep in the afternoon after eating, returning to work after siesta

Generally, human physical and mental activity increases in the morning, is at its highest around noon, and then decreases between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m

There is data showing that traffic accidents occur more frequently during times of low activity, so getting some sleep makes sense when working

Source: Wikipedia

Even at Beyond, which provides cloud/server monitoring 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the effectiveness of the Siesta system is immeasurable

In the break room of our Osaka office, there is an infrastructure engineer known as the "Sleeping Pillar."

I'm sure everyone in the company has seen him sleeping on the sofa at least once, whether it's when going for a break, getting water from the water dispenser, or throwing out large pieces of trash

Okazaki Junichiro

Team leader of the System Solutions Department

He is the only person in Beyond who uses the siesta system

Okazaki says, "I wonder what everyone thinks of me."

This time, we asked Mr. Okazaki, the promising leader of Beyond's infrastructure team, to talk about the effects of the siesta system

Mr. Okazaki before the introduction of the siesta system

-What was your working style before you started using the siesta system?

To take a break from work, I would just laze around in the office, or rather, just space out

▲The Sakuragawa office. The company moved to Namba in February 2018 and introduced a siesta system

 

When it's warm, you tend to get sleepy

But I can't sleep at my desk, and Seiken-san is sitting next to me..

▲ (Photo on the right) Mr. Masanori Sato, infrastructure engineer and executive officer, currently works in the Canadian office, where he is responsible for operations and maintenance

 

So, to relax, I would walk around and talk to people from other departments, or go to the bathroom and just walk a little

People around me say I'm wandering around or something

▲He is sometimes called the "wandering old man" because he often wanders around the office

 

We started using Siesta after our office moved to Namba and a large sofa was installed in the break room

▲The break room is now four times larger than the old office, and a sofa large enough for people to lie down has been installed. Apparently, CEO Haraoka spent a lot of time selecting it at IKEA

 

This sofa does smell a bit because other bosses also sleep on it

▲It's incredibly difficult to remove the cover from this sofa. I only wash it during my big end-of-year cleaning. I use Febreze every month

 

When to use the siesta system

-Do you have a set time when you come to work?

In my case it's quite varied

It's really about how you feel when you wake up in the morning

*Beyond has a flexible working system, so you can come to work any time between 9:00 and 12:00

-When do you feel sleepy?

Usually after eating a meal

People tend to get sleepy after eating, right?

I also don't like the heat, so when the office is hot I often feel drowsy and sleepy

I feel the sleepiest at 1pm and 2pm after lunch

Do you often go out to eat lunch?

There's a lot of it outside

-What kind of person is it?

Or going out to eat ramen

I go to the one below Namba Walk. It's a heavyweight one. It's the kind that will definitely make you fat

Menya Marusho Namba Walk Branch

Eating ramen makes me extremely sleepy

Things have been pretty bad lately. I haven't been exercising or going outside. I haven't been doing any strength training either

I also like alcohol

-Do you feel sleepy the day after drinking alcohol?

Sometimes I get so hungover that I have to take a siesta (lol)

It's the worst, but sometimes

For example, when you're late because of a drinking party the day before

It's not just for 15 minutes, my headache is so bad I want to lie down forever

▲A scene from a drinking party

 

When I first started using Siesta

-Please tell us about the first time you used the siesta system

memory!?

Is it like a memory of the first time you responded to an alert?

That's right, "It's okay to sleep."

But at first it was really awkward

When the system was first established, no one used it

-Was anyone else using it besides Okazaki?

There were only two people who actually used Siesta at the beginning, but I think I'm the only one who uses it now

However, that doesn't mean I can say, "Take naps actively."

On the other hand, if someone asked me, "Do you get sleepy at work?" I wouldn't have anything to say

-But I think everyone will get sleepy

You must be sleepy

When I don't say much during online company meetings, I get really sleepy

Sometimes there are times when I'm like, "Hey, is this me?"

At that time, I pretend to listen vaguely, remember only the words that sound relevant, and then when I'm asked a question, I can answer it well

But when I really haven't heard anything, I'll be like, "Oh no, what were we talking about?"

Is everyone getting sleepy?

-Do you feel awkward about taking a siesta now?

It's not awkward at all now

I'm more sleepy than that

I wonder what everyone thinks

When she sees me saying "I'm going to take a siesta" and sleeping on the sofa, doesn't she think "What's up with this guy?"

- I'm just using the system, so it's nothing special. I just feel like I'm taking a siesta

Well, there's nothing to complain about

But if there was anyone else sleeping on the sofa here, people around me might think, "What's going on?"

Even if we use partitions, we still have to be considerate of each other

Maybe it takes a lot of nerve to use Siesta

I think I've gotten used to it and become strangely thick-skinned

-How many times a week do you take a siesta now?

I'm working remotely now so I don't use it much

When I was working in the office, I probably used it about two or three times a week

I can't use it when I'm busy

I sleep to relax when I have some free time or when I'm stuck and can't think of anything

The effects of the siesta system

-What changes did you notice after sleeping for 15 minutes?

When I get stuck, I lie down and think, "What should I do?"

I can imagine, "Maybe there's another way to do this."

-So you take it not only to sleep, but also when you want to be alone and think

Sometimes I'm just so sleepy that I fall asleep

It's like a way to relax and think about things in a different way

As expected, it's quite tiring to sit at your desk thinking about something when you're stuck

The break room is quiet because not many people come there

I think it might be good to use it as a distraction

When I'm at my desk, I get chat messages constantly and my mind gets distracted

If I just let it all go for a moment and think, even though it's only a short time like 15 minutes, I think it's a great idea

-If you fall asleep for 30 minutes, that's a long time to leave the chat unattended

It's a pain to return it later

After about 15 minutes, I might have had to go to the bathroom for a bit

-But isn't 15 minutes too short?

15 minutes is surprisingly short and goes by in a flash

When I'm really sleepy, I close my eyes and wake up suddenly, and 10 minutes have already passed

But I do think it's just the right time

On the other hand, sleeping too much can make you feel uncomfortable

-Do you ever think, "I wish I could sleep more!"

After eating or when I have a hangover, I just want to sleep all the time

It's a battle with reason

I would like to sleep more, but I'm worried that if I leave it any longer, it will cause problems later

15 minutes can be long or short, so I think it's just the right balance

-What if this were to last 20 minutes?

When it's 20 minutes, I'll take a 30 minute nap

I wonder why 20 minutes seemed so long when I was a child, but now that I'm an adult, it feels so short

I can't believe that during recess in elementary school, I used to play dodgeball and come home in such a short time

The speed at which we moved through the hallways and classrooms back then was incredible

That energy is unimaginable now

If I just think about something for 10 minutes or so, it's over in no time

The only man who uses the siesta system

-How can you find the courage to take a siesta?

The only thing you can do is be bold

But I think the atmosphere is also very important

I've gotten used to it now, but I think other people are a bit unsure about whether it's okay to use Siesta

Once you use it once or twice it's easy

I think the first one is the hardest to use

The official stance is that leaders will take the lead in using it

Well, there's no such thing

-But I guess you feel like if the leader is using it, then it's okay for you to use it too

If none of your superiors are using it, your juniors won't either

That said, it's not something that can be forced

It's hard to even say, "Go to sleep."

I don't want to force anyone to do anything, but I want to create an atmosphere where it's okay to just take a break

He said it was okay to sleep for about 15 minutes

I don't think there's going to be any backlash just because there's been a 15-minute gap

Well, if someone said "I'm going to take a siesta" while the alarm was going off, I'd think they should read the situation a bit (laughs)

To begin with, it's strange that nothing can be done just because one person is away from their seat for 15 minutes

-How can we popularize the siesta system within the company?

There's absolutely no need to popularize it

I think it's fine if people who want to use it use it

If that improves efficiency, then that's great

Since we're all working remotely now, I don't think it really matters whether we use it or not

I don't think it's right to not use something just because it has an inconvenient atmosphere, so I would like to be mindful of that

-Finally, what does the "siesta system" mean to you, Leader Okazaki?

Siesta is as important to me as our customers are to Beyond

If I said that, I'm sure people would think I was an idiot

- Only Leader Okazaki can say this

I see, it would be awful if he was just sleeping

It's like, what would you be if you weren't working like this?

That's pretty dangerous, isn't it?

Anyway, I hope this article goes viral

No, I'd be worried if it went viral

People tease me, saying, "He's the one who sleeps."

It's called Sleeping Okazaki. That's annoying

Breath of Sleep, First Form, Siesta

Beyond's sleeping pillar

How embarrassing

summary

Okazaki's attitude of telling his team members, "It's okay to take a little break," may be easing the mental exhaustion caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and being the key to continuing remote work in the future

Even if you're not an engineer, you'll need the ability to control yourself, such as taking a rest when you're tired, taking a nap when you're sleepy, and changing your mood when you lose concentration

Additionally, Beyond is planning to relocate its Osaka office in April 2021 due to expansion

"an office that people want to come to even during the COVID-19 pandemic," and will include the installation of individual booths for online meetings and open spaces where people can communicate while avoiding crowds.

We plan to place reclining chairs in individual booths so that passengers can take naps, which we expect will make the siesta system even easier to use

To be honest, I have never used the siesta system myself, so when I feel sleepy in the new office, I would like to take a 15-minute nap and improve my work efficiency like Mr. Okazaki