Falling asleep at work? Fight that fatigue

Are you continuously dozing off at work? Fatigue is not a new workplace hazard. Many of us suffer from it. It takes a toll on our productivity as well as performance. It makes you incompetent. This feeling of tiredness that doesn’t go away even after sleeping rests both in your mind and body. But what causes it? The answer lies in your daily routine. Some common causes are emotional stress, too much physical exertion, poor eating habits, and lack of sleep and so on. You can regain your energy levels by making a few changes in your lifestyle.

Chronic fatigue syndrome – Licensed Image (CC BY-SA)

1. Always try to be active: at your workplace you might be using email or messengers to chat with your colleagues. Ditch this habit and walk over to them. Avoid taking lift if you can take the stairs. These small moves silently force your body in to burning calories. ½ kg of weight can be lost by burning around 3500 calories.

2. Take small meals: instead of taking 3 meals a day, you can break your eating regime into 6 or 8 parts and have one like every 2 – 3 hours. Here your body burns calories during digestion. So eating often can prove to be a good workout for your system.

3. Don’t skip the breakfast: this is not a good move. You may think that you are eating less and so will lose weight. But the reality is exactly the opposite. Your body demands food after waking up to keep functioning smoothly. But since you skipped the breakfast, as a result of panic your body stores the next meal in the fat reserves. Therefore you tend to eat more than required.

4. Take timely naps: depriving your body of sleep makes it gain weight and makes you feel tired. 2 hormones take care of appetite namely satiety hormone and ghrelin hormone. The first one signals that you are full and the second one signals that you are hungry. When you don’t get sufficient sleep, these two malfunction which makes you feel hungry and full at the same time.

5. Keep weekends for exercising: your busy schedule might not permit you to workout daily but, you can at least do that every weekend. Combine fun and fitness together to stay motivated. Exercising doesn’t necessarily means hitting the gym. It includes playing football, jogging, squash, tennis i.e., any outdoor sport you can think of.