If you’ve ever taken the chance to catch some shut-eye while sitting in your cubicle, you now you are taking a risk. You could easily get caught by co-workers, a boss, or (heaven forbid) the CEO swinging through on a random visit. Then it’s a visit to the naughty corner – unless you can come up with an instant excuse!

Of course, if you just plan ahead, you can probably extricate yourself from trouble with a well timed phrase that leaves you in the clear. Here are some of our very favorite excuses that get cubicle sleepers off the hook!

For the lawyer’s office:

• “It’s okay: I’m still billing the client.”

For the business office:

• “This is just a 15-minute power nap like they raved about in that time-management course you sent me to.”
• “I was working smarter, not harder.”
• “I wasn’t sleeping! I was meditating on the mission statement and envisioning a new paradigm!”
• “This is one of the seven habits of highly effective people!”

In the IT department:

• “I was testing my keyboard for drool resistance.”
• “I’m actually doing a “Stress Level Elimination Exercise Plan” (SLEEP) I learned at the last management seminar you made me attend.”

When a guilt trip is in order:

• “This is in exchange for the six hours last night when I dreamed about work!”
• “They told me at the blood bank this might happen.”

• “Ah, the unique and unpredictable circadian rhythms of the workaholic!”

To turn the tables on that boss who always talks about being vegan and taking the spiritual path to enlightenment:

• “I was doing a highly specific Yoga exercise to relieve work-related stress.
• Do you discriminate against people who practice Yoga?”

To convince a coworker it’s all their fault:

• “Darn! Why did you interrupt me? I had almost figured out a solution to our biggest problem.”

Blame the lack of caffeine available in the work environment:

• “The coffee machine is broken.”
• “Someone must’ve put decaf in the wrong pot.”

So wildly unbelievable they just might buy it:

• “Wasn’t sleeping. Was trying to pick up a contact lens without hands.”
• “The mailman flipped out and pulled a gun, so I was playing dead to avoid getting shot.”

Sheer honesty:

• “Geez, I thought you were gone for the day.”

Have you ever gotten trouble for nodding off at work?  What’s your cubicle sleeping excuse?