You need to be at your best to do your best – but how can you avoid those afternoon doldrums?
The reality is that it is just not feasible to be 100% all day long. Even if you could sustain a frantic pace for hours on end, something would have to give; productivity, mental acuity, health.
Below are some helpful tips to help get you through the afternoon sluggishness and to help feel more energized throughout the day.
- Get more sleep at night. Generally, people need between 6 and 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night in order to function optimally. Surveys have shown that Americans come to work with less than 6 hours of sleep about 1/3 of the time. That is just not enough rejuvenation time to effectively deal with the rigors of the day; especially in the hectic pace of Howard County, MD and the Baltimore/Washington, DC metro region in general. Adequate rest is vital for success, good health and proper function
- Adjust your tasks to meet your energy levels. Optimize your “to-do” list around your hours of peak performance. Choose to work on more demanding and focus driven activities when you feel at your best and save the more mundane tasks for when your energy wanes.
- Get up and get moving. Higher energy directly correlates with regular exercise. Integrate exercise regularly into your daily schedule. See Ten Oaks Health and Wellness blog about “Staying Fit While You Sit” for proper posture and ergonomics you can do while at your desk. It is also a good strategy to get up and move for 10 minutes or so during the day. Get up and stretch, do some jumping jacks or push-ups, go for a quick walk around the office. Movement gets oxygen flowing to your brain and body helping to overcome fatigue. Rather than sitting at a table for a meeting, would it possible to take your colleague for a walk and meet instead? Try it, your body and mind will thank you.
- Deep Breathing at your desk. Taking 5 – 7 deep belly breaths a few times a day will give you a boost throughout the day. It also helps to drop anxiety and focus the mind.
- Do not make a habit of drinking caffeinated beverages in the afternoon. Caffeine may provide a quick boost by blocking the chemicals in your brain that tell you that you are tired, but the effects are generally short lived and may make you even more tired near term. It is best to avoid making a habit of that 3:00 coffee and save it for when you really need it like before a big meeting or after a particularly poor night’s sleep. Used strategically, caffeine may work to your benefit, but when it becomes a habit, it can become detrimental.
- Listen to music. Musical preferences may differ, but the effects are the same. Music can energize the body, mind, and spirit.
- Get your nervous system flowing. Chiropractic care is great at treating back pain, neck pain, headaches, sciatica, fibromyalgia, and other aches and pains – at this point, that’s a given. Chiropractic also enables the body to function at its highest and best by facilitating proper nervous system function. Simply, chiropractic care provides the body the very best chance at being healthy and well by creating an environment where the spine, nervous system and body are balanced, coordinated, and free from interference. If you want to increase your energy and vitality, chiropractic care should be foundational in your plan to be vibrant for life!!!
Our goal is to become an ever greater health and wellness resource for the people of Howard County including Clarksville, West Friendship, Glenelg, Ellicott City, Glenwood and the surrounding region. The chiropractors, acupuncturist, and all the staff at Ten Oaks Health and Wellness in Glenelg, MD are honored to help you achieve the very best health and vitality for life.