1. “Someone must’ve put decaf in the wrong pot.”
2. “This is just a 15-minute power nap like they raved about in that time-management course you sent me to.”
3. “I was working smarter — not harder.”
4. “Whew! I musta left the top off the liquid paper.”
5. “Oh, I wasn’t sleeping! I was meditating on our mission statement and envisioning a new paradigm!”
6. “This is one of the seven habits of highly effective people!”
7. “I was testing the keyboard for drool-resistance.”
8. “It worked well for Reagan, didn’t it?”
9. “Boy, that cold medicine I took last night just won’t wear off!”
10. “I’m actually doing a “Stress Level Elimination Exercise Plan” (SLEEP) I learned at the last mandatory seminar you made me attend.”
11. “This is in exchange for the six hours last night when I dreamed about work!”
12. “I was doing a highly specific Yoga exercise to relieve work-related stress. Do you discriminate against people who practice Yoga?”
13. “Darn! Why did you interrupt me? I had almost figured out a solution to our biggest problem.”
14. “They told me at the blood bank this might happen.”
15. “Geez, I thought you (the boss) were gone for the day.”