I recently interviewed Gene Autry in his dressing-room atMadison Square Garden， where he was the star attraction at theworld’s championship rodeo. I noticed an army cot in his dressingroom.
“I lie down there every afternoon，” Gene Autry said， “andget an hour’s nap between performances. When I am makingpictures in Hollywood，” he continued， “I often relax in a big easychair and get two or three ten-minute naps a day. They buck me uptremendously.”
Edison attributed his enormous energy and endurance to hishabit of sleeping whenever he wanted to.
I interviewed Henry Ford shortly before his eightieth birthday.
I was surprised to see how fresh and fine he looked. I asked himthe secret. He said： “I never stand up when I can sit down； and Inever sit down when I can lie down.”
Horace Mann， “the father of modern education”， did the samething as he grew older. When he was president of Antioch College，he used to stretch out on a couch while interviewing students.
I persuaded a motion-picture director in Hollywood to try asimilar technique. He confessed that it worked miracles. I referto Jack Chertock， who is now one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s topdirectors. When he came to see me a few years ago， he was thenhead of the short-feature department of M-G-M. Worn out andexhausted， he had tried everything： tonics， vitamins， medicine.
Nothing helped much. I suggested that he take a vacation everyday. How？ By stretching out in his office and relaxing whileholding conferences with his staff writers.
When I saw him again， two years later， he said： “A miraclehas happened. That is what my own physicians call it. I used tosit up in my chair， tense and taut， while discussing ideas for ourshort features. Now I stretch out on the office couch during theseconferences. I feel better than I have felt in twenty years. Worktwo hours a day longer， yet I rarely get tired.”
How does all this apply to you？ If you are a stenographer， youcan’t take naps in the office as Edison did， and as Sam Goldwyndoes； and if you are an accountant， you can’t stretch out on thecouch while discussing a financial statement with the boss. But ifyou live in a small city and go home for lunch， you may be able totake a ten-minute nap after lunch. That is what General GeorgeC. Marshall used to do. He felt he was so busy directing the U.S.
Army in wartime that he had to rest at noon. If you are over fiftyand feel you are too rushed to do it， then buy immediately all thelife insurance you can get. Funerals come high—and suddenly—these days； and the little woman may want to take your insurancemoney and marry a younger man！
If you can’t take a nap at noon， you can at least try to lie downfor an hour before the evening meal. It is cheaper than a highball；and， over a long stretch， it is 5，467 times more effective. If youcan sleep for an hour around five， six， or seven o’clock， you canadd one hour a day to your waking life. Why？ How？ Because361 ·
an hour’s nap before the evening meal plus six hours’ sleep atnight—a total of seven hours—will do you more good than eighthours of unbroken sleep.
A physical worker can do more work if he takes more time outfor rest. Frederick Taylor demonstrated that while working as ascientific management engineer with the Bethlehem Steel Company.
He observed that labouring men were loading approximately 12？
tons of pig-iron per man each day on freight cars and that theywere exhausted at noon. He made a scientific study of all the fatiguefactors involved， and declared that these men should be loading not12？ tons of pig-iron per day， but fortyseven tons per day！ He figuredthat they ought to do almost four times as much as they were doing，and not be exhausted. But prove it！
Taylor selected a Mr. Schmidt who was required to work bythe stop-watch. Schmidt was told by the man who stood over himwith a watch： “Now pick up a ‘pig’ and walk.... Now sit down andrest.... Now walk.... Now rest.”
What happened？ Schmidt carried forty-seven tons of pig-ironeach day while the other men carried only 12？ tons per man.
And he practically never failed to work at this pace during thethree years that Frederick Taylor was at Bethlehem. Schmidt wasable to do this because he rested before he got tired. He workedapproximately 26 minutes out of the hour and rested 34 minutes.
He rested more than he worked-yet he did almost four times asmuch work as the others！
Let me repeat： do what the Army does-take frequent rests. Dowhat your heart does—rest before you get tired， and you will addone hour a day to your waking life.
