Focus and alertness are undoubtedly key to productivity at work, so you may perform at subpar levels if you are constantly tired in the office. Tiredness can stem from many causes, ranging from poor sleep the previous night to working too often at nighttime. Napping on the job is more common than you think.
How To Stay Awake
An Amerisleep poll of 1,001 Americans to measure sleeping habits at work revealed that 51.8% of respondents admitted to getting shut-eye while working. However, staying awake, alert, and productive at work doesn’t have to be a struggle if you know some helpful tips. Below are some of the best ways to remain awake at work.
Eat Healthy Snacks
The food you consume throughout the day plays a huge role in remaining alert or feeling sleepy at work. It is tempting to reach for a donut or some candy during snack time, but these artificial and sugary foods will only drain your energy and make you tired and more likely to fall asleep.
This is because consuming high sugar levels hinders the production of Orexin, the chemical in your brain that is a key modulator of the sleep/wakefulness cycle. Consequently, the more sugar you take in, the more sleep you will feel.
Therefore, choose healthier alternatives like blueberries which have excellent energy, focus, and memory-boosting properties. Granola, nuts or trail mix, hard-boiled eggs, and natural yogurt are excellent healthy snack alternatives to consider.
Brighten Your Workplace
Light has a profound effect on humans, making it instrumental in falling asleep or staying awake. Light shifts your biological clock’s timing, so you are in sync with your watch. As such, the light that pours in when you wake up and open your shades confirms to your body that it is early in the morning and time to get started for the day.
Secondly, light directly impacts the brain, so increasing the amount of light in your space at any time will instantly make you more attentive. Consequently, the worst thing you can do when trying to stay awake at work is to remain in a poorly-lit room since this would only lull you to sleep.
Therefore, consider opening your curtains to let in natural light or adding another lamp to your workstation to increase the amount of light and make you less sleepy.
Be More Interactive with Your Colleagues
Boredom and quiet are two key ingredients for slumber, so engaging your colleagues in conversation effectively eliminates both factors. An engaging conversation typically leaves very little room for tiredness and sleepiness. Therefore, you might be more alert than others if you regularly converse with a coworker.
Therefore, try interacting with your colleagues through in-person conversations as much as possible instead of emails. In-person conversations are more personal and engaging and can help prevent workplace monotony.
There is no shortage of topics to discuss with colleagues, and engaging them will help you build stronger workplace relationships besides merely keeping you alert and awake.
Take Caffeine
Caffeine is a popular stimulant in coffee, green and black tea, and cocoa powder drinks. Coffee is the most common source of caffeine, and Americans drink a whopping 400 million cups of it every day.
Caffeine is famed for keeping people awake and alert. It blocks the effects of the brain’s chemical adenosine that induces tiredness while triggering the release of the hormone adrenaline, which is associated with increased energy.
However, the huge problem with obtaining your caffeine from coffee is that the initial energy boost you receive is usually followed by a significant energy crash later in the day.
Consequently, many caffeine enthusiasts replace coffee with other drinks containing less caffeine, like green or black tea. Teas have a more subtle stimulating effect, so drinking the best tea for caffeine will reduce the peaks and dips you experience throughout the day.
Take Activity Breaks
Americans spend about 10 hours per day seated, and since the majority of office time is spent in a chair, fatigue and sleep can easily creep in. As such, it is vital to take regular activity breaks at work instead of simply sitting in the break room.
You can walk around the building or stretch every few hours to keep yourself alert. Also, consider going up and down the stairs a few times. Standing up while on the phone or eating lunch, and acquiring a flexible standing desk to change your position often.
Besides keeping you awake and productive. Activity breaks can also help you improve your posture and reduce stress, so keep this in mind.
