MSNBC has an article profiling a new device called the Energy Pod. A high-tech version of the Kindergarten mat, it affords sleep deprived employees and executives a power nap during the day. Invented by Arshad Chowdhury, founder of New York based MetroNaps, the company hopes to introduce the Energy Pod into the workforce in order to “improve employee morale, while boosting the bottom line.”

While the business person in me loves that Chowdhury launched his company in order to solve a problem (and very creatively at that), and though I think this could really come in handy for post-lunch hours at work, and ultimately it’s healthier than another pot of coffee, the mother in me isn’t impressed.

The “sleep industry” is now a booming business, which pulled in 20 billion dollars last year. Americans working more and sleeping less, sometimes with dire consequences– over 100,000 car accidents each year are the result of drowsy driving. It seems as though every magazine, and morning news show has some kind of feature on how overworked and exhausted we are. Some people even seem boast about it, as if you can earn some sort of merit badge for running yourself into the ground.

I know there are circumstances from time to time which require us to sleep less, and of course there are millions of Americans who suffer from insomnia, but what I’m talking about is the general trend in business that promotes sleeping less and working more. Doesn’t the Energy Pod encourage that trend? Instead of trying to re-order our lives so that we can get the sleep we need, now we can just catch a cat nap at work.

Well, another venti latte with an extra shot, or a 40 winks in a fiber glass bed isn’t going to cut it. Geez, America, you need your sleep! So turn off the blackberry, close the laptop and go to bed.