Most workers know the feeling of waking up from a deep nap and needing a few seconds to remember what day, or even what time, it is. But for one employee chasing a promotion, that groggy confusion turned into a full-blown panic and an awkward call to his boss that thousands of Reddit users found hilariously relatable.The story, shared on Reddit's r/work community under the title "Embarrassing moment today after work….", came from a user who said he had been "gunning for a supervisor position" and had been "doing a fantastic job absolutely killing it." While he enjoys the challenge of the role, he admitted the workload has also been "pretty damn stressful."A nap that felt like the next morningThe employee, whose workday runs from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., said he rarely takes naps. But after an especially exhausting day, he decided to lie down and watch television to decompress. "Today, however I was feeling particularly tired after work from running around so much so I decided to just lay down and relax for a bit," he wrote.Also Read: After 2 months and 4 interview rounds, candidate from Washington receives lowball offer, but rejecting it politely leads to unexpected workplace drama, putting his current job in jeopardyWhen he woke up, he glanced at his phone and saw it was 7:40. The room was dim, with the evening sunlight creating the same atmosphere he normally associates with early mornings. In a split second, he became convinced he had overslept and missed the start of his next workday."I instantly freak out, jump out of bed and start scrambling to get ready for work," he recalled. "I’m pissed cuz I’ve been doing amazing at work and I just ghosted my job with no heads up of me being late."Employee hoping for a supervisor promotion calls boss to apologize for being late; ‘super awesome’ manager reveals it was all in his headThe phone call that changed everythingStill convinced he had somehow overslept, the employee grabbed his phone and called his boss, apologizing in a panic. According to the Reddit post, he told his manager that he had no idea what had happened but was rushing to work and expected to arrive in about 20 minutes.His boss, however, sounded confused. Instead of asking how late he would be, he simply replied, “Uhm, why are you going into work?”The employee, believing it was around 7:45 a.m. and that he had missed his alarm by nearly 40 minutes, insisted that he knew he was late but was on his way. “It’s 7:45, I know I’m late, I somehow missed my alarm but I’ll be there. I’m not gonna take the day or anything,” he explained. Then came the response that made everything click.“No but like, why though? You are off at 4 p.m.,” his boss said. An awkward silence followed as the employee slowly realized the truth. It wasn’t 7:46 in the morning at all, it was 7:46 p.m. He hadn’t slept through his shift; he had already worked the entire day and accidentally woken up after an evening nap, thinking a new day had begun.Embarrassed, he admitted the mix-up to his boss. “Wow… this is embarrassing,” he said. “I genuinely just thought I slept past my alarm and was late to work without notice. I’m so sorry to bother you man haha.”Fortunately, his manager found the situation more amusing than alarming. Laughing it off, the boss reassured him, saying, “It’s all good man, you can go back to sleep, go get some rest, sounds like you need it.”Reddit users say the mix-up is more common than people thinkThe lighthearted story quickly struck a chord with readers, many of whom shared similar experiences of waking from a deep sleep completely disoriented. One commented, saying he did nothing wrong, ‘That's actually cool and funny at the same time. For sure, you are going to get teased for some time to come, and your story will likely be told in that workplace over the next decade’ Others pointed out that high stress levels and mental exhaustion can make it difficult for the brain to distinguish between an evening nap and the start of a new day.Employee on track for a supervisor role thinks he slept through work; boss tells him to ‘go back to sleep’ after bizarre mix-upThe employee himself ended the story on a humorous note, saying he expects to be teased when he returns to work. "My boss is super awesome and an amazing dude to work under and I’m sure I’ll be made fun of a bunch tomorrow for this haha."His final takeaway was simple: "Moral of the story, manage your stress levels everyone." And for many readers, the post raised a familiar question: if a short after-work nap can leave someone convinced they have missed an entire day, how many people are running on less rest than they realize?