4 Simple Ways to Fight Mid-Day Fatigue

Ever felt yourself jerking awake in a typical afternoon and wondering when you started dozing off? This can be frustrating especially when you are trying to meet a certain deadline and concentration is badly needed.

Mid-day fatigue, also known as afternoon slump, happens after lunch time, typically in the middle of your work day. It is usually experienced at around 1 to 3 in the afternoon. The condition is fairly common in today’s work world and is usually observed in the working population because of the high level of stress that they deal with everyday.

Ever experienced frequent yawning, lethargy, irritability and muscle weakness just after you’ve eaten lunch? That’s mid-day fatigue and it could be detrimental to your health as well as your career. You wouldn’t want to fall asleep while doing an afternoon presentation, would you?

Some of the causes of this condition have something to do with a person’s metabolism. People with hypothyroidism, for example, have slower metabolic rates, making them prone to having episodes of sleepiness. Other causes are attributed to lifestyle and are more modifiable. Now that’s good news, isn’t it?

Here are simple ways that could help you fight mid-day fatigue:

1. Relax. No, I’m not kidding

One of the most common causes of mid-day fatigue is stress.

When you are put in a stressful situation, your adrenal glands secrete cortisol, also called the stress hormone, to help your body tune its functions in response to stress. However, when stress is prolonged, your body can no longer keep up with the demand and your cortisol level could decrease. You will now feel stress taking toll on your body.

Relax. Take a breather. Find out why you are so stressed and work on ways to reduce your sources of stress.

2. Have enough, quality sleep at night

Your poor sleeping pattern can make you feel exhausted during day-time. Sleeping, aside from eating and hydrating, is the best way to recharge your body. Lack of sleep drains your brain, making you get tired easily and slow in processing information.

On the average, adults who are 18 to 64 years old should get between seven to nine hours of sleep. And it’s not just about the length of sleep. Quality counts as well. Having five hours of deep, sound sleep would make you feel better than having nine hours of shallow sleep.

You can start by making sure that your bed is only used for sleeping. Remove all work and entertainment-related stuff from your bedroom. Dim the lights in your bedroom and make sure that it is quiet enough for you to relax.

3. Move it

Sitting in your office for hours at a time can be a source of fatigue. Not only does it make you feel exhausted; sedentary lifestyle could also lead to the development of diseases like diabetes and hypertension.

When you exercise, your muscle movement will stimulate an increase in your heart rate. This will lead to more oxygenated blood being pumped and reaching your brain. And your brain will thank you for it because it needs oxygen and glucose to function well.

Some fitness gurus advice that it is ideal to do your workout midday. But don’t overdo it. The workout must be enough to boost your energy but not too much that it would leave you too exhausted to do anything else. Short cardio workouts can do the trick in combatting midday fatigue – so go for a brisk walk to wake yourself up or hit the treadmill at a nearby gym at lunch. Or get yourself some equipment to easily get moving at home or in your office. Equipment like exercise pedals benefit not only the brain but also strengthen the heart and the muscles.

4. Ditch the burger

Complex carbohydrates are just that. Complex. Digesting them takes time and since your body puts its best efforts in digesting your lunch, you become sleepy minutes to hours after eating. Eat more protein instead of carbs and feel the difference.

Did I miss something? Share ways on how you fight mid-day fatigue in the comments section below.

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