You know the feeling. Time is dragging and it feels like an hour since you last checked the clock, but when you look up only five minutes have passed. Your eyelids feel like anvils, the spreadsheet in front of you seems to be in Greek, and you could swear the lights are buzzing at a frequency precisely calculated to both annoy you and put you to sleep.
This happens to the best of us, and it’s no fun. Luckily, there are ways to fix it! Read on to learn the best ways to keep those work doldrums at bay.
1. Break your routine. Sitting in your chair looking at a screen all day is taxing to your body and mind—it’s not how humans were meant to spend time, and your body knows it! Do whatever you can to change up your normal routine. Your body will naturally respond to the change in environment, and you’ll feel a lot better. This can be hard to do at will—there are only so many times you can get up and walk around the office or do some stretches before that, too, becomes routine and stops working. So plan ahead. Take lunch an hour earlier than usual, reorganize your workstation, change your desktop background. Change as much as you can without interfering with your work. Your brain will thank you.
2. Drink more water. When 3PM rolls around, a lot of people are on their fourth or fifth coffee. Going to the kitchen for a dose of caffeine may seem like a good way to liven yourself up, but drinking too much coffee can make you feel just plain awful: jittery, sweaty, and on-edge. Instead, try pouring a tall glass of ice water. Water is good for you, period. The more you drink, the better you’ll feel. Try drinking nothing but water at work for a day and see how you feel. Odds are you’ll perk right up and avoid any nasty crashes.
3. Exercise more. Yeah, yeah, we know—everyone tells you this. But it’s a tried and true fact that the more you work out, the better you feel, both physically and mentally. Exercise is a great way to keep tiredness and lethargy at bay. The more the better, but you don’t have to do much to feel the benefit. If you’re comfortable working out in your office or cubicle, bring some weights in; if not, take a morning jog or bike ride. You’ll be amazed how fast the cobwebs clear.
4. Calculate your sleep cycles. This one seems counterintuitive, but sleeping less might actually make you more alert. When we sleep, our brain undergoes a series of approximately 90-minute cycles, starting at light sleep (the equivalent of dozing off for a second) and moving through REM (the deepest stage, where we do most of our dreaming) before cycling back to light sleep. Waking up during REM feels like swimming through molasses, but waking up during the beginning or end of a cycle is quick and painless. Try setting your alarm for the end of one of those 90-minute cycles. Sleeping for 6 hours—4 full cycles—could have you feeling much better than sleeping for 7 and interrupting your precious REM.
With these tips in hand, you’ll see fast improvement in your state of mind at work and home. So fill those water bottles and grab those free weights—it’s time for a change.