"A brief power nap can combat the effects of sleepiness," Dr Micic says.The cause of said stress can be all kinds of things, from lifestyle to medical conditions. You can go for as many walks, drink as much caffeine and eat all the sugar in the world - nothing will cure your tiredness other than sleep. Verdict: Moving your body can make you feel more alert, and sunlight can help shoo away sleep hormones, but it won't solve your problem entirely.Ĭan you squeeze in a powernap? That might help."If you're walking to the station or driving, wherever possible sunglasses in the morning so you get that light in to suppress your melatonin," Dr Junge says. Getting sunlight on your face in the morning can help your body shut off melatonin, the chemical we produce for sleep, says Moira Junge, a health psychologist with the Sleep Health Foundation. "Changing posture, moving about … getting out during the day and taking a walk around the building, especially if it's a sunny day, that will have great healthful impacts on your alertness and also your general wellbeing," Professor Banks says. If your day is quite sedentary when you're sleepy, it can make you feel even dozier. If you're able, getting out in daylight can help you feel more awake. Verdict: Caffeine can help you focus for short periods of time to help you get through the day, but be careful about your tolerance and what else you consume with it.Įating can make you feel better, but not wake you up more.Depending on whether you have a short black, mocha, caffeinated soft drink or energy drink, the liquid often has extra sugars, fats, proteins and chemicals - so watch what you slurp. "It's just being aware of using caffeine in a more strategic way," Professor Banks says.Īnd it's not just caffeine you're drinking. Caffeine also raises our heart rate and can make us feel even more on edge, so it's best not to drink a coffee if you're already nervous, for example.Īnd if you're sensitive to caffeine, it can stop you from sleeping and therefore compound any sleep loss. This is our body working to keep us going until we can sleep again, but it makes us feel more stressed, on edge and a bit sick. When we don't get enough sleep our body gets an inflammatory response - our heart rate goes up, our blood pressure goes up, glucose is released into the blood. She says while caffeine can help you be safer while driving on the way home, it can have unwanted effects as well. "Where we know that caffeine is really good is with keeping you alert with things like driving, for example," Professor Banks says. Siobhan Banks, co-director of the Behaviour-Brain-Body Research Centre, says a lack of sleep can dull our senses, making it harder for us to focus on tasks. The first thing many of us reach for when we're feeling tired is a caffeinated drink.Ĭaffeine is "everyone's favourite psychoactive drug" and it really does help us to be more alert and focused. Caffeine is your friend, but be strategic If you're having regular disrupted sleep and it's affecting life, please speak to a doctor. Small disclaimer here: we're talking about one or two bad nights, not days on end of no sleep with hallucination-inducing sleep deprivation. So, what are some proven (and healthy) ways to get today's jobs done when you've been up most of the night with noisy neighbours, a loud storm, a sleepless child or for no apparent reason at all? There are plenty of helpful hints online about how to push through after a crappy sleep, but they're not always based in fact. You've barely slept and all you want to do is shut out the world, but that's not really an option. The alarm goes off and you mutter some curse words.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |