Feeling sleepy at work is never a good thing, especially if you’re working in a fast-paced, rushing to meet deadlines and always on-the-go kind of job. It’s despicable thing to happen when you need to be productive for the day but your eyes started to get droopy, and your head starts to nod off as if someone had lulled you to sleep, then was startled awake just in time before your head hit the desk.
Yes, it happens to the best of us at the most inconvenient time, while typing, arranging some files and God forbids, during meeting with the boss. It’s rather a nuisance to be feeling sleepy at work, so to prevent any unwanted circumstances or consequences, here are 12 ways on how to avoid being sleepy at work.
Good Night Sleep Tight
The first thing you gotta do is to get enough sleep. Quite obvious isn’t it? But, many of us didn’t succumb to this rule, instead they rather cut off an hour or two of their sleep time in the morning or at night, to miscellaneous things. Adults need a seven to nine hours of sleep per night, while teenagers got to sleep a whole nine hours in order to function well. Get some sleep and avoid being sleepy at work.
Get Up and Shake Around
One way on how to avoid being sleepy at work? Your body must have been tired for it to be slowly drift off to rest mode. So, shake your body up to wake them up. Better yet, walk for at least 10 minutes before off to work or on the way to work, to get that oxygen pumped up all over your body. If your work requires you to stick to your desk and stare at the computer screen, get up more often and get some simple stretch in or maybe a short walk to the pantry. You’ll be sure to avoid being sleepy at work.
Nap Time!
Nap time is one of the ways on how to avoid being sleepy at work. Kids love nap time! Well, adults too if you ask us, however, napping at work can be tricky. No, we’re not asking you to sleep on the job. The least you could do is slip in some nap time during your break. Take a short nap ranging from 5 to 25 minutes but never more than that, it’ll make you feel more groggy and tired. Sure, you’re cutting, probably your lunch break, a little bit shorter, but would you rather have a nice rest than spending the entire workday feeling sleepy?
Eye-eye Captain!
This is for those who keep their eyes fixated in their computer screen all day long, from 9 to 5, give your eyes a break! Your body needs a break and you know it, but not many people our eyes too are straining themselves all day to finish the workday. Continuous exposure to blue light emitted from your PC screen will cause eye strain, if not, worsen drowsiness and fatigue. Look away for a few minutes, or look at something soothing for the eyes like plants.
Snack is the Hack
Sugar rush is good for the ones who need to be productive. Well, not really as it works only for a short period of time. After that, you’ll be more tired than you were before. However, you can snack on these healthy alternative as they provide better overall energy in long term :
- Whole wheat cracker or celery sticks topped with peanut butter
- Yogurt topped with a handful of nuts or fresh fruit
- Baby carrots dipped in a low-fat cream cheese
Avoid These Food Though
Aside from snacks that rich in sugar, we should also avoid these type of food as they tend to make us more drowsy. AVert the consumption of these food, and you’ll be sure to avoid being sleepy at work:
- Alcoholic beverages
- Pastries
- Potatoes
- White rice
- Pasta
- Processed or smoked meat
- High Fructose content cereals or food
- Coffee after your second cup
Put on Some Tunes
Music is one of the ways on how to avoid being sleepy at work! Music has it special powers in capturing people’s heart and it also has the super power on our alertness as well. Don’t listen to relaxing music or classical tunes as it can lull you to dreamland, even though you think you can stay awake amidst all the piano and violins melody. Switch it to any upbeat tunes, the kind of tunes that makes you want to dance right there and then and you’ll be sure to avoid being sleepy at work.
Greetings! We Come in Peace
One of the ways on how to avoid being sleepy at work is greet someone! If you feel like drifting off too fast, start a conversation with a fellow colleagues to get your mind up and running again. Talk about any topics of your liking such as business ideas, politics, or religion. Work out your mind a little bit. Say hello to the janitor when you see him. Even small talks can make you stay awake and avoid being sleepy at work. Abstain yourself from talking about personal stuff though, you don’t want to be deemed as insensitive.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Take a breather once in a while to raise the blood oxygen in your body. Commence a deep-breathing exercise to aid in your mental performance and energy. Add some aromatherapy while you’re at it. Certain essential oils can help in relieving daytime sleepiness. The best ones to avoid being sleepy at work are peppermint, grapefruit, basil and rosemary. You can either sniff straight from the bottle or sharing it with your colleagues by diffusing it from an oil diffuser.
Drink Up
Woah! Don’t go picking up an alcoholic beverage, that’s not what we meant. Go drink up that water to prevent dehydration as it can cause daytime sleepiness. Tired of water, switch up your drinks for green tea as it will provide you with the energy to be efficient all day long. Lemon water also works out great to avoid being sleepy at work. It also helps to flush out all the toxins while revving up our metabolism. Isn’t that awesome?
Pocketful of Sunshine
The circadian rhythm is a 24-hour internal clock in your brain that regulates between your sleepiness and alertness at regular intervals. To put it simply, our wake and sleep cycle. Experts say, we should at least get a 30 minutes a day of natural sunlight, shine on our body. Exposure to bright natural lights will help you to be more awake and alert to combat being sleepy at work, as opposed to dim lighting which increase fatigue.
Exercise
One of the ways on how to avoid being sleepy at work is exercise! It’s a cliche, we know. Exercise seems to fix everything and boy, they sure do. Slip in a 30 minutes exercise a day to pump up your energy level so that you can prevent daytime sleepiness. There are many types of exercise that could bring such great benefits to us. For instance, aerobic exercise, will help you fall asleep better at night as well as give more daytime energy whilst keeping our mind sharp. Just do it.
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