diff --git a/pkg/mapper/examples/cat_sleep/main.go b/pkg/mapper/examples/cat_sleep/main.go
index 89dc6609..7fc63a5e 100644
--- a/pkg/mapper/examples/cat_sleep/main.go
+++ b/pkg/mapper/examples/cat_sleep/main.go
@@ -3,16 +3,33 @@ package main
 import (
 	"context"
 	"log"
+	"os"
+	"strconv"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/numaproj/numaflow-go/pkg/mapper"
 )
 
+const DEFAULT_SLEEP_SECONDS = 10
+
 type CatSleep struct {
 }
 
 func (e *CatSleep) Map(ctx context.Context, keys []string, d mapper.Datum) mapper.Messages {
-	time.Sleep(10 * time.Second)
+
+	sleepSeconds := DEFAULT_SLEEP_SECONDS
+	secondsString := os.Getenv("SLEEP_SECONDS")
+	if secondsString == "" {
+		log.Printf("SLEEP_SECONDS environment variable not set, using default %d seconds\n", DEFAULT_SLEEP_SECONDS)
+	} else {
+		val, err := strconv.Atoi(secondsString)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Printf("SLEEP_SECONDS environment variable %q not an int, using default %d seconds\n", secondsString, DEFAULT_SLEEP_SECONDS)
+		} else {
+			sleepSeconds = val
+		}
+	}
+	time.Sleep(time.Duration(sleepSeconds) * time.Second)
 	return mapper.MessagesBuilder().Append(mapper.NewMessage(d.Value()).WithKeys(keys))
 }