You’ve been up since early morning and have been really productive. You’ve been crossing off completed tasks in your daily planner. Several hours later, it is the middle of the day, and you just had your lunch. And for some reason, all you want, more than anything, is to take a nice nap and relax. But that’s impossible because there is too much work left to do, and maybe you have a bunch of people counting on you. You think this over seriously, and you finally give in and say “To hell with everything else, I need to get a well-needed shut-eye. Midday fatigue has kicked in full effect and you’re too lazy to get back to work.
So how do you fix this problem? The answer is extremely simple, but it will require some discipline. There are few things that you can do to stop midday fatigue before it’s got you in a headlock. The following are steps that will work for anyone, whether you’re a male or female, young or old. Apply these steps and avoid experiencing the midday fatigue that keeps us from being productive.
Get your heart rate up for 3-5 minutes
If you are experiencing fatigue, then chances are that your body has been stagnant for a while. This is very common in the legal industry because the majority of our work requires us to sit down. You should get out of your work environment, and maybe step outside for some fresh air! Before your short cardio workout, you should stretch your entire body from head to toe for about a minute, just so you warm up a little bit. Then get your heart rate up as fast as you can. Do some jumping jacks, or run in place for about 3-5 minutes, to get the blood flowing. Obviously, don’t go crazy with your exercises if you’ve just eaten lunch. You don’t want all your food coming back up! Just take it a little easier.
Drink a good amount of water
Now, you should already be drinking plenty of water throughout the day. However, we’re all human and it’s natural to get so busy that we forget to rehydrate ourselves. But after your short cardio exercise, let your heart rate recover a little bit and drink a nice big glass of water to wake up your organs.
Reflexology: Massage Your Face
Reflexology is an Eastern massage therapy, originating from China and Egypt, and has been practiced for thousands of years. And it is basically the massaging of the nerve endings that are believed to be connected to certain organs and areas of the body. In this step, you will resort to facial reflexology to rejuvenate your body and to let the energy flow smoothly. All you have to do is massage your forehead, eyebrows, eye sockets, nose, cheekbones, cheeks, chin/jaw, ears, and scalp, for about 1-2 minutes each. Try to keep all your facial muscles relaxed. It feels great, so enjoy!
Freshen Up with Cold Water
The last step in my routine is to wash my face and neck with cold water. This is pretty obvious, right? But it is an absolute must! Freshen yourself up just like how you would when you wake up in the morning.
Bonus Tip: Chew Your Food Thoroughly
This is something that must be remembered before all the other steps. Chew your food thoroughly before you swallow it. Majority of us have a terrible habit of chewing our food only once or twice before swallowing it. We don’t realize that the less we chew, the harder it is for our stomach and intestines to digest the food, and the more energy they spend on digestion. Try chewing around 30-40 times per bite. Your digestive system will thank you for it. This is a simple step that we can take to allow our digestive system to not spend unnecessary amounts of energy on digesting the food that we eat. Isn’t it strange how we fall into a food coma when the entire reason why we eat is to get energy? There’s something to think about!
In Conclusion
We’ve all experienced the horrible feeling of midday fatigue. We all know how negative its effects are, and I’m sure that we all would rather not have midday fatigue affecting our lives. These tips are meant to help you beat midday fatigue when it starts to set in so that you can continue your day without any interruptions in your productivity. Enjoy!
