It happens to the best of us. You’re sitting at your desk and the office clock ticks to 3pm. With almost perfect timing, your eyes glaze over. The lure of social media is now a formidable force, directing your mouse like a demon locked on to a ouji board and, in a last ditch attempt to exorcise its advances, you reach for a coffee. The struggle is real, and it makes the final hours of the working day a write-off for many Irish companies.
What causes the afternoon slump?
It’s no coincidence that this notorious drop in energy tends to occur in office environments. The body simply is not meant to sit for 8 hours straight, and those short walks to the coffee machine don’t help much. Adding to the problem is digital eye strain. Screens are everywhere – at your desk, in your living room, in your back pocket and even in the pub! Our straining eyes are fatigued from constantly battling with their harsh glare. This not only results in your energy being zapped but also stress, which is just another energy drainer in disguise! Of course, a bad diet fuelled by excess carbohydrates and sugar doesn’t help and neither will a bad night’s sleep.
Top 3 tactics for boosting your energy at work
1. Change up your lunchtime habits
How do you spend your lunch? If it’s scoffing down a sandwich at your desk or simply moving from your desk chair to a chair in the canteen, then your body is probably screaming for movement by the time 3pm rolls around. Think about it – if you’re taking a long-haul flight you’re advised to get up and walk around the cabin or at the very least wear compression socks. Sitting at the desk all day is no different to a long-haul flight for your body, and it’s even worse if you have to do it 5 days a week.
Find a way to include some exercise in your workday. It doesn’t have to be anything too strenuous if working out isn’t your idea of fun. Yoga or a brisk walk in the open-air can do wonders for your body as well as your mental health. Apart from getting your circulation back to normal, breathing in big gulps of fresh air is going to increase the flow of oxygen in your body and give you an instant energy boost.
2. Start thinking about fuel as protein (instead of sugar, caffeine or carbs)
OK, so protein doesn’t directly boost your energy levels, but bear with us. Before working out at the gym, many people have a protein shake. Why don’t they just have a hit of a sugary drink or some coffee? Firstly, protein aids the formation of amino acids which is vital for building and repairing cells (such as muscle tissue), but it’s also because protein balances your blood sugar levels. While a fizzy drink or a cup of coffee will eventually make you crash, protein provides long-lasting stamina.
If you remember your secondary school biology, you’ll know that the body converts carbohydrates into glucose aka sugar. But don’t worry, we’re not about to hoodwink you into a strict diet that completely cuts out bread and pasta! In fact, a balanced combination of protein and carbs for lunch is the perfect strategy for an instant energy boost that will last late into the workday, minus the dreaded crash.
3. Reduce stress levels
According to a report conducted by VHI, one in five Irish corporate employees feels stressed. This year the World Health Organisation officially recognised “burn-out” as a disease with the three primary symptoms being energy depletion, feelings of cynicism towards one’s job and reduced productivity. As you can gather, stress is a very real problem and it directly affects energy levels. It’s been proven that prolonged stress causes mental and physical exhaustion due to ‘fight or flight’ chemicals being released too often into the blood system.
Saying that, you don’t have to be diagnosed with chronic stress to know a whole day spent putting out fires and managing office politics can leave you feeling drained. No matter how stressful your job is it’s important to take time to have fun at work and boost your dopamine (happy hormone) levels. This could simply mean singing a song, chatting to your colleagues, sending around a funny joke in the company chat box or actually getting up and visiting a friend on a different floor. It’s important to keep work in perspective and remember that happy people are more productive anyway.
In our fast-paced modern world, everyone wants more energy and although there is no miracle cure, you can make some simple adjustments to your day and feel instant benefits. The afternoon slump doesn’t have to rob half your workday, you just need to fight fatigue the smart way!
