Written by Camille Peri
With more and more of us getting less and less sleep, it’s tempting to reach for an energy drink or an espresso when we feel sleepy at work. But consuming caffeine to combat sleepiness can lead to a vicious cycle.
The java jolt that helps you stay awake can take up to eight hours to wear off. Caffeine can also reduce your sleep time, alter the normal stages of sleep, and decrease the quality of your sleep.
How can you stay awake naturally? The most obvious thing is to get enough sleep and practice good sleep habits, sometimes called "sleep hygiene." For instance, you probably know that it's best to go to sleep ad get up at the same time every day, power down your screens ahead of bedtime, keep your bedroom dark and cool. You need to do that for good health, as well as feeling rested. But on the occasional day when that doesn't happen, try some of these 12 jitter-free tips to take the edge off sleepiness.
In one well-known study, Robert Thayer, PhD, a professor at California State University, Long Beach, studied whether people were more energized by eating a candy bar or taking a brisk 10-minute walk. Though the candy bar provided a quick energy boost, participants were actually more tired and had less energy an hour later. The 10-minute walk increased energy for two hours. That’s because walking pumps oxygen through your veins, brain, and muscles.
If you work at a desk, get up frequently for short walks. At meal breaks, walk to a restaurant or, if you bring your lunch, head for a nice spot to eat it. Whether you take a walk outside or just in the building where you work, it will make you feel more alert and refreshed.
There are two things to remember about naps: Don’t take more than one and don’t take it too close to your bedtime. “Nap between five and 25 minutes,” says Barry Krakow, MD, author of Sound Sleep, Sound Mind: Seven Keys to Sleeping Through the Night.
It’s best to nap about six or seven hours before you would normally go to bed. If you must take a late nap close to bedtime, make it a short one.
Napping on the job can be touchy. If you need to nap at work, do it during your break and use a vibrating alarm clock, if necessary, to make sure it doesn’t spill over into your work time. Sleeping at your desk is usually not a good idea, but many companies now provide nap rooms for employees.
“If you can’t nap, even resting quietly with your eyes closed for 10 minutes or so will help,” says Allison T. Siebern, PhD, a fellow at the Stanford University Sleep Medicine Center in Redwood City, Calif.
Continuous fixation on a computer screen can cause eyestrain and worsen sleepiness and fatigue. Look away from the screen for a few minutes periodically to relax your eyes.
Sugary snacks give you a quick energy boost followed by the sugar “lows,” when low blood sugar produces mental fogginess and lethargy.
Snacks such as these will provide better overall energy in the long run:
If you’re fading fast, engaging in conversation can get your mind moving again. “Talk to a colleague about a business idea, politics, or religion,” says Krakow, medical director of Maimonides Sleep Arts and Sciences, Ltd. in Albuquerque, N.M. “It’s a very strong behavioral stimulator -- especially when it’s a conversation about politics.”
Environments with dim lighting aggravate fatigue. Studies have shown that exposure to bright light can reduce sleepiness and increase alertness. Try increasing the intensity of your light source at work.
Deep breathing raises blood oxygen levels in the body.
This slows your heart rate, lowers blood pressure, and improves circulation, ultimately aiding mental performance and energy.
The idea of deep-breathing exercises is to inhale to the abdomen, not the chest. You can do them at your desk. Sitting up straight, try this exercise up to 10 times:
Another technique, called stimulating breath, is used in yoga for a quick energy boost and increased alertness: Inhale and exhale rapidly through your nose, keeping your mouth closed but relaxed. Make your in-and-out breaths short -- do about three of each cycle in a second. Then breathe normally. You can do this for up to 15 seconds the first time and then add on five seconds each time after until you reach a minute.
“Driving while sleepy is as dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol,” says Siebern. Common tricks such as opening the windows and turning on loud music won’t keep you awake for very long behind the wheel. “Have someone else drive or pull off the road and take a nap until you’re no longer sleepy,” Siebern says.
If you’re on an extended trip, change drivers often. Stop at least every two hours to take a walk and get some fresh air.
In 2004 Finnish researchers who studied people working 12-hour night shifts found that monotonous work is as harmful as sleep loss for alertness. At work or home, try to reserve more stimulating tasks for your sleepy times. Or switch to more engaging work responsibilities when you feel yourself nodding off.
Dehydration can cause fatigue. Make sure you drink plenty of fluids and eat foods high in water such as fruits and vegetables.
Our circadian rhythms, which regulate our sleep-wake cycle, are influenced by daylight. Try to spend at least 30 minutes a day outside in natural sunlight. (Sleep experts recommend an hour of morning sunlight a day if you have insomnia.) Even a step outside for a breath of fresh air will revive your senses.
In an analysis of 70 studies involving more than 6,800 people, University of Georgia researchers found that exercise was more effective in increasing energy and reducing daytime fatigue than some medications used to treat sleep problems. Regular exercise also improves quality of sleep.
Try to exercise 30 minutes a day. If you decide to exercise hard some days, your energy level may drop for a bit and then surge for a few hours. Eating a meal that contains both protein and carbohydrates within two hours after a heavy workout will lessen the initial energy loss.
Be sure to finish your workout a few hours before bedtime so you are not energized when you try to sleep.
If you find that you can’t stop nodding off when you need to be alert, consult a doctor or sleep specialist. You may have an underlying sleep disorder such as excessive sleepiness or narcolepsy, which can be treated. Your doctor may prescribe medications to help you with a sleep disorder. If you have trouble falling asleep because of stress or other reasons, cognitive behavioral therapy can help you develop good sleep habits and relieve sleep anxieties.
It's only 3 p.m. with a few more hours to go till work ends. Yet, your eyelids are drooping, and you can't resist the urge to snooze at your desk. The question is: How do you wake yourself up when you’re tired to get through the day?
As you'll learn below, it's OK to feel tired at certain times of the day.
But if you're constantly tuckered-out, high sleep debt and an off-kilter circadian rhythm (your internal clock) are usually the two main instigators.
Below, you'll learn scientifically proven tips on how to wake yourself up when tired. But keep in mind that these hacks are only temporary at best; you're better off keeping your sleep debt and internal clock in check.
Disclaimer: This post is not intended as medical advice. While the RISE app is designed to support natural sleep and boost sleep hygiene to address symptoms of sleep deprivation, it does not treat medical conditions such as sleep apnea and restless legs syndrome.
PSA: It’s OK to Be Tired at Certain Times of DayAs much as we would like to be “on” all the time, the human body isn’t like the Energizer Bunny, raring to go 24/7. Even time management hacks, like the Pomodoro technique, are aligned with the rest-activity cycles of your circadian rhythm (the internal body clock).
At Rise, we refer to these fluctuations as “energy peaks and dips” for a more relatable term.
On the RISE app, you’ll notice three periods where everyone experiences low energy levels, even when you’ve had enough sleep:
Perhaps you find yourself running on low fuel even outside of your low-energy periods. It’s hard to focus on an important meeting or spend quality time with your family when you’re constantly yawning. Here's the thing — you don't have to feel tired all the time.
The first trick is to keep your sleep debt low by outsleeping your sleep need (the genetically determined amount of sleep your body needs). You can do this via one of the four ways:
The second trick is to keep yourself circadianally aligned. Even if you've met your sleep need, not playing to the tune of your circadian rhythm can make you feel out of sorts. A prime example would be social jetlag, in which your social and biological clocks are out of sync. For many, this entails an early-to-bed, early-to-rise sleep schedule during the workweek and staying up late and sleeping in on the weekends or days off.
The best way to work with your body clock is a consistent sleep schedule that meets your sleep need. If you need help getting your sleep patterns back on track, learn how to reset your sleep schedule.
How to Wake Yourself up When Tired With These Temporary HacksBecause life happens, there may be days where you need more help in the energy department. This prompts you to search for viable ways to wake yourself up when tired.
Good news, science has a few tricks up its sleeves to temporarily combat your fatigue — temporarily being the operative word here, if effective at all. We also want to caution that some of these hacks may disrupt your sleep-wake cycle unless administered strategically, potentially inciting an endless loop of less sleep and more tiredness.
1. Well-Timed NapsWell-timed naps within your afternoon dip (you can check the exact timing on the RISE app) are a good way to dial down sleep deprivation and the accompanying daytime sleepiness. During your circadian dip, your body is primed to go into hibernation mode, making dozing off easier than ever.
A power nap of 10-20 minutes during this window of time can help you stay maximally productive as you rest and recharge for the rest of the day’s activities. A study by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and the Federal Aviation Administration found that pilots who napped for roughly 26 minutes had "improved physiological alertness and performance" than their counterparts who didn't.
If you want a longer-lasting energy boost, consider deeper naps of 40-90 minutes. The trade-off, though, is more intense sleep inertia afterward.
Play It SafeDon’t nap too long or too late in the day, as it can dilute your sleep pressure (biochemically known as adenosine), the key factor that helps you drift off to sleep at night. Use the RISE app to find your best window of time for a daytime siesta.
2. CaffeineCaffeine is a well-known stimulant when you want to wake yourself up when tired.
How it works: Caffeine inactivates the adenosine receptors in your brain, so you don't feel the urge to doze off — at least for the moment. A 2008 study shows that its effectiveness wanes after 3-4 hours. It's also interesting to note that the energizing effects of a cup of coffee (or tea) is more short-lived than naps.
Play It SafeNot many people realize that caffeine stays in your system for up to 10 hours. So, drinking it too late in the day can incite or aggravate your sleep problems. To avoid this unwanted scenario, add the "Limit Caffeine" habit to your Energy Schedule in the RISE app so you know when to cut off your caffeine consumption based on your unique chronobiology.
3. Naps Plus CaffeineFor a potent duo, drink a cup of coffee before taking a nap, also known as a "coffee nap." For the record, scientists highly endorse caffeinated naps over coffee or napping alone.
One study involving 12 sleepy participants in a driving simulation showed that 200 milligrams of caffeine coupled with a power nap significantly "reduced incidents to 9% of placebo levels versus 34% of placebo levels for caffeine alone. "
To get the most out of your coffee nap, keep it short (20 minutes tops) to avoid falling into the deep sleep stage. If you're using a coffee nap to combat excessive sleepiness while driving, take note: It isn't 100% foolproof against drowsy driving.
4. ExerciseRegular exercise is one of the pillars of good health and better sleep. It gets your heart rate going and floods your system with feel-good endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin. The result? Not only do you feel more awake, but you'll also likely be in a better mood.
Because natural light is the most powerful circadian cue to wake up your body clock, pair exercise with sunshine. Even if you aren't a morning person, take a short walk in natural sunlight during the afternoon for an invigorating breath of fresh air.
Play It SafeWhile exercise can energize you, doing it at the wrong time can delay your sleep schedule. To make your workout work for you, check out our tell-all guide on exercising before bed.
A glass of water is another simple (albeit brief) pick-me-up. When you're mildly dehydrated, your alertness suffers. Also, studies explain that water intake (no matter if you're thirsty, to begin with, or not) improved self-reported alertness levels.
Play It SafeJust like exercise, the timing of your water intake affects your sleep. Avoid drinking water before bed to minimize middle-of-the-night awakenings because you have to get up to use the restroom.
6. Cold ShowerOn a related note, a cold shower steps up your heart rate, metabolism, and blood flow to instantly revive your senses. If a cold shower isn't possible, say you're in the office, splash some cold water on your face to reap similar benefits.
Play It SafeLimit cold showers to the earlier part of the day. From dusk onward, switch to hot showers and baths to mimic the natural drop in your core body temperature as sleep beckons.
Specific essential oils are scientifically proven to boost your attention, alertness, and focus. Eucalyptus and peppermint essential oils, in particular, are known to stimulate and rejuvenate your mind as well as boost your energy levels.
Play It SafeBear in mind that some essential oils, like lavender, promote drowsiness. They may help you get the hours of sleep you need at night but won’t help you stay vigilant during daylight.
As you've learned, many of the hacks on how to wake yourself up when tired are temporary at best, if effective at all. Rather than relying on them for short-lived energy boosts, RISE offers a more sustainable way of staying awake.
You've guessed it right — it's all about keeping your sleep debt low and learning to work with your circadian rhythm. In other words, practice healthy sleep habits 24/7 to get the sleep you need. Download the RISE app today to perfect your sleep hygiene so that you can feel and function at your best when you need to.
Problems started at work. The morning fuse lasted for a couple of hours, and then terrible fatigue fell upon Yulia - such that she could not concentrate on a single document. Health also fell down: the head often split, the palms sweated, and the heart suddenly slowed down the beats and hooted somewhere down, then it began to beat. Yulia began to lose her temper at her relatives, she got annoyed with colleagues who spoke too loudly on the phone or slammed the door.
The whole family went on vacation, from which Yulia returned, it seems, even more tired: while her husband was happily sleeping in the sun, she looked after the children frolicking in the waves, and then rushed to the kitchen to have time to cook food for the hungry family. Yes, and they often called from work: they obviously couldn’t cope without Yulia.
One day a woman came home from work and, without undressing, lay down on the sofa. She lay with her eyes closed and understood: as usual, there was a lot of work to do, but she simply did not have the strength to deal with them. The children asked her something, pulled her hand somewhere, but Yulia continued to lie.
“Dad, here is my mother… she broke down,” the youngest daughter called her father.
The next morning, the neurologist diagnosed Yulia with "asthenia" .
“Asthenia is the body’s reaction to the depletion of its energy resources, a non-specific condition from which many somatic and mental diseases begin,” explains the head of the dispensary department of the Belgorod Regional Clinical Psychoneurological Hospital Victoria Ruzhenkova .
According to her, with asthenia in the brain, the processes of excitation begin to prevail over inhibition. The structures responsible for motivation, perception and attention suffer the most. Internal biorhythms go astray, sleep worsens, appetite often decreases. People complain of weakness and fatigue, decreased performance and memory impairment. The emotional background is also unstable: the mood fluctuates in the range from “I love everyone” to “I will kill everyone”, literally every little thing infuriates me, irritation becomes background. And to everything else, a variety of pains without objective reasons can be added: a headache - “as if pulled together with an iron hoop”, pain in the back, stomach, throws you into a fever ...
“Unfortunately, all the symptoms I have listed are non-specific. But asthenia simply doesn’t have specific ones, ”the doctor throws up his hands.
The fact is that asthenia is not a disease, but it is a syndrome that significantly worsens the quality of human life. It can occur as a result of any disease - infectious (for example, influenza), endocrine (diabetes mellitus), vascular (stroke, heart attack). Such asthenia is called organic . Mental illnesses can also begin with it: schizophrenia, depressive disorder.
There is also asthenia reactive - occurs as a reaction to external causes and circumstances: frequent changes in sleep and wakefulness, constant air travel, switching of attention in conditions of emotional stress.
Photo: Oleg Goncharenko
Asthenia is a fairly common phenomenon in the modern world: according to various estimates, it affects from 15 to 45% of the population, including children and the elderly.
“Most likely, the reason for this is the acceleration of the pace of life, the increase in workload and requirements for a person, which form a general stressful background,” Viktoria Viktorovna suggests.
Moms and dads, due to their parental anxiety, overload their children, trying to give them as many skills as possible. And at the same time they themselves are in constant stress, as they try to adapt to the high requirements in the family and in the service. How in such conditions not to burn out and not run out of breath?
“We need to learn to distinguish between asthenia and ordinary fatigue. After rest, fatigue disappears, but asthenia does not disappear anywhere - it cannot be defeated with the help of sleep or a warm bath. And even a vacation will not cure her completely, ”emphasizes Victoria Ruzhenkova.
Asthenic syndrome has three stages of development: at the first, a person becomes irritable, gets tired quickly, but working capacity is still preserved - at least in the morning, after rest. At the second stage, irritable weakness appears: a person is simultaneously weak, exhausted and at the same time excitable. Efficiency ranges from "turning mountains" to "I don't want to do anything." The third stage is the most difficult: there is no strength, working capacity is at zero, drowsiness overcomes and you absolutely do not want to do anything. At the same time, the mood can be quite normal, in contrast to depression with its depression.
Victoria Ruzhenkova / Photo: Tamara Akinshina
News of the BRF
90,000 just got up and is already tired: how to distinguish ordinary laziness from a serious illnessJuly 14, 2017, 15:30,
updated July 17, 2017, 09 :27
The fact that laziness is bad, a person learns about the same time when he learns to brush his teeth or lace up his shoes. And in the school of idleness they even declare war. Suffice it to recall that on the flyleaf of the primer there were in bold type proverbs like "Laziness is worse than illness."
Modern doctors have something to say to both folk wisdom and those who consider laziness to be the fruit of spoilage, improper upbringing and bad heredity. According to doctors, laziness is a disease, or rather, its symptom.
An obsessive squeak of an alarm clock, coffee on the run, a whole day in an armchair in front of a computer . .. Go to a foreign language course, sign up for a gym or swimming pool, meet college friends - all these plans are again and again postponed until later .
What is it: banal laziness and lack of willpower? Most likely no. Constant lethargy, lack of motivation, irritability and absent-mindedness can be symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome.
Surprisingly, a disease that causes insurmountable laziness in a person most often affects workaholics.
Read also
Fighting depression: yoga and pet therapy for stress and bad mood
Chronic fatigue syndrome was first described by American doctors in the mid-eighties of the XX century after they examined thousands of patients who complained of constant lethargy , irritability and apathy. It turned out that almost all of them lived in big cities and worked hard.
“From a medical point of view, laziness is a completely natural reaction of our body. If a person constantly works at the limit of his strength, the brain tries to protect himself from a stressful situation. And the unwillingness to do anything can slow down a workaholic,” says therapist Elena Tikhomirov.
Chronic fatigue syndrome is like a speed limiter in a car. Exceeded the allowed limit - and a signal starts beeping in the cabin, warning that moving faster is life-threatening.
When the "speed" of our life is exceeded, the body produces stress hormones - adrenaline, norepinephrine and cortisol. In extreme situations, these substances help a person quickly navigate and escape from danger: they speed up the pulse, increase blood pressure, and stimulate the brain. That is why a person begins to think faster, becomes more resilient, can withstand cold, hunger, and even blood loss. But for our benefit, these substances work only in situations that really threaten life and health. Usually this is a short period of time, and when the danger is left behind, relaxation sets in.
From a medical point of view, laziness is a completely natural reaction of our body.If a person is constantly working at the limit of his strength, the brain tries to protect itself from a stressful situation. And what can slow down a workaholic is just the unwillingness to do anything
Elena Tikhomirova
Therapist
If there is no relaxation, the constant high level of stress hormones causes hypertension, insomnia, disorders of the heart and stomach, and rapid skin aging. After a few months of living in such a rhythm, the resources of the body are depleted, and the person feels lethargic, overwhelmed, indifferent to everything, that is, lazy. But he has to keep going.
“Sometimes a person pushes himself too hard: “I have to be better than others”, “I have to get more than others”, “to be better than others, you have to try harder,” says psychologist Pavel Volzhenkov, — as a result, a person breaks the balance of work and rest, drives himself to such an extent that he leaves three to four hours to sleep.
Working at this pace is like trying to run a marathon at the speed of a sprinter. Meanwhile, the main rule of long-distance runners is the ability to distribute forces. Therefore, doctors recommend that workaholics reduce their workload by at least twenty percent in order to really achieve success at work and at the same time stay healthy.
Another serious cause of constant fatigue and apathy is chronic sleep deprivation. Workaholics often neglect sleep and either work at night or do things they don’t have time to do during the day: meet friends, go shopping or go to the movies.
But in the evening, the brain begins to produce the hormone melatonin, which causes a desire to sleep. Melatonin is both our doctor and worker: while we sleep, it restores strength, strengthens the immune system, and slows down the aging of the body.
Read also
How to survive a gloomy summer without emotional loss: advice from psychiatrists and psychologists
It is most active from twelve to three in the morning. With a lack of sleep, the production of melatonin decreases, the biorhythms of the body go astray, which is why we cannot fall asleep, even if we are deadly tired, and in the morning we wake up with difficulty and feel overwhelmed.
“Nature created a person so that his brain would rest at night and work during the day,” says cardiologist and therapist Nizami Guliyev, “during sleep, the brain processes and assimilates the information that it has received during the day, as if making room for a new one. If a person does not get enough sleep ", but at the same time it works at the usual intense rhythm, the brain is simply not able to process information quickly. It's like a computer with a small amount of memory that was forced to download a heavy video. It will do it very slowly."
After a night spent on the next project, the body will tend to rest and resist the flow of new information. Working in this state is perceived as a traumatic factor from which one must hide. So, the surging laziness and desire to do anything, if only not work, is quite natural.
Lack of physical activity can also cause laziness. When we spend the whole day at a sedentary job and our body is essentially inactive, the number of impulses from the muscles to the nervous system decreases, the blood is poorly oxygenated. As a result, the working capacity of the brain decreases, memory and concentration deteriorate. And we feel lethargy, weakness and ... unwillingness to work.
If a person does not get enough sleep, but at the same time works in the usual intensive rhythm, the brain is simply not able to quickly process information. It's like a computer with a small amount of memory, which was forced to download a heavy video. He will do it very slowly. and if this is not possible, get off one stop earlier from home and walk a couple of kilometers on foot. Get a dog and walk it for at least forty minutes in the morning and evening.”Research scientists have shown that regular and moderate physical activity improves short-term memory and concentration by almost thirty percent.
So companies that provide their employees with discounted memberships to fitness clubs actually provide a higher efficiency of their work.
"...similar to an English spleen, in short: Russian melancholy"
But what if a person has no health problems, gets enough sleep, moves enough, does not work hard, and yet strives with all his heart for idleness? It turns out that he is the same lazy person? Not at all. Most likely, such a person is simply not doing his job or is experiencing psychological stress.
Read also
Tea will not drink itself: what to do so that work does not bring you to depression
this or that action, - explains the psychologist Pavel Volzhenkov, - in fact, a person simply defends himself if he does something that he does not like. For example, if a person goes to work that does not bring him satisfaction. "
Laziness as a result of satiety with life or greenhouse education, according to psychologists, is extremely rare.
More often it is a shield with which a person closes himself from the need to make an important decision for himself.
![]()
