Tips for Staying Awake While Working From Home
Whether you love your job or hate it, everyone has experienced days in which they’re exhausted and can’t seem to get any work done. This is even more true if you work from home since your body is used to your house being a place of rest.
Fortunately, there are ways to overcome this issue. If you are experiencing occasional bouts of sleepiness while on the job, then our tips for staying awake while working from home will help you immensely. On the other hand, if you are one of those people who feel tired every day, then we’d recommend a lifestyle change--but in the meantime, some of these tips still might be of some use to you.
Do Some Physical Activities Before You Start
One of the worst things you can do while working from home is roll out of bed, sit at your desk, and start working. This gives your body no time to wake up and be ready for the day ahead. At the very least, you should get up early enough to eat breakfast, get dressed, and make yourself presentable, even if nobody will see you that day. While that may mean waking up earlier, at least your body will be getting a little bit of exercise before going straight to work mode.
Although, sometimes these activities aren’t enough. If you’re really tired, you might need to increase the physicality of your morning routine. Going for a short walk or jog is, by far, the best way to do this. If you don’t have any extra time in your morning, try eating your breakfast standing up. Since you’ll be sitting behind a desk for the next eight hours, getting some time on your feet will help wake you up even more.
Eat or Drink Something When Needed
We’ll start with something obvious: coffee (or another type of caffeinated drink) is a go-to for most office workers. Getting an energy boost from doing something as easy as taking a drink is probably the most efficient way to get through the day. However, the reason why we brought this one up is because it should never be a permanent fix. The boost you get is only temporary, and the most you drink caffeinated drinks, the higher your tolerance for them will get.
That’s why we recommend drinking water if you’re feeling a bit tired. If you constantly drink water throughout your workday, you’ll not only be taking steps towards a healthier lifestyle, but you’ll be keeping yourself more alert. Your mind has trouble concentrating if you are dehydrated, so staying consistent with your fluids will help negate that issue.
If neither of those seems to be working, try taking a healthy snack break. You can eat most snacks while you work, so it shouldn’t even interfere with your daily output. Be sure to focus on the healthy aspect of this tip, though. Foods with sugar only help for a little while and come with a crash that will make you more unproductive than before. Healthier snacks such as yogurt and fruit will help keep you alert for longer.
Use Your Breaks Wisely
If you are given any 15-minute breaks during your workday, be sure to use them productively. Going on a short walk or doing some yoga will help keep your body awake and your mind sharp. For those days that you just can’t seem to keep your eyes open, a quick power nap might be the way to go.
Not all companies give you official breaks other than the one you take for lunch. If that applies to you, there’s no need to worry. If you eat your meal fast enough, you can use the extra time to do the activities we mentioned above. If you need your whole lunch break to eat, all we ask is that you try to find some time to get one of these things in when you have some downtime.
Find Ways To Energize Yourself While Working
Despite all your efforts, you might not have the time to do anything extra while you’re working. Luckily, there are some things you can do while you work to wake yourself up a bit. One of the easiest things is listening to some music. Rock or pop music can be just the jolt of energy you need to get your brain activity to 100 percent. If you’re worried about the tunes being too distracting, find the instrumental versions of songs you like or branch out and listen to other music without lyrics.
Certain scents can also keep you awake. Whether you go with scented candles or an essential oil diffuser, the right scent can instantly sharpen your senses, waking you up in the process. There’s nothing quite like the scent of peppermint to put a little pep in your step.
If those last two seem like they would be too distracting for you, then maybe you need to look into getting a standing desk. If you’re currently happy with the one you have and don’t want to replace it, consider our simple standing desk converters. They are easy to set up and even easier to use. Standing while you work will surely keep you awake since falling asleep in your comfy chair won’t be an option.
Work on Easy Tasks First
If you know that your tiredness will pass as you get through your day, then it might be best for you to start your day with some easy tasks while your brain works its way towards full capacity. If the easy stuff needs to get done regardless, then doing it right away will be the most efficient use of your time. As a bonus, if you mess anything up with it, going back to it later to fix it won’t be as detrimental as it would be if you messed up a more difficult task.
Change Your Sleeping Habits
If all else fails, our last tip for staying awake while working from home is to change how you sleep. If sleepiness is a constant issue, then you’re likely doing something wrong. Most adults need six to seven hours of sleep a night. If you’re getting less, then you know what you need to do to fix it.
If your problem has more to do with not getting a restful night’s sleep, it will be more challenging to fix. Some common issues that cause this are too much blue light from phone screens and consuming stimulating foods or drinks before bed. Of course, the best way to fix these is to avoid them entirely. Don’t eat high-energy foods or drinks before you go to bed and use a blue light filter on your phone.
If nothing you do seems to work for your nighttime rest, your best bet is to take a nap or two throughout the day. While we did recommend power naps earlier, for this point we want you to make the naps a part of your schedule. Consistency is vital when it comes to sleep.
