Don’t let a bad night in bed ruin your day. Use these
strategies to function like you’ve had a solid eight hours of shut-eye, even
when you haven’t.
When your alarm goes off
Don’t hit the snooze button
Grabbing some extra sleep might seem like a smart move the
morning after a bad night, but you need to get up sooner rather than later to
increase your chances of having your brain in gear by the time you leave the
house. It’s because of something called sleep inertia – that unavoidable groggy
period when you first wake up. It has a big impact: when US scientists compared
the memory and thinking skills of people who’d been sleep
deprived for 24 hours with those of people who had just woken up, the
well-rested group performed significantly worse.
Top tip: Set your alarm for at least two hours before
the time you need your brain to be fully functioning. Sleep inertia is worst in
the first few minutes after waking, but can last for up to two hours.
Don’t hit the
snooze button
At breakfast
Fuel up on plenty of fiber
Welsh scientists have made a connection between eating a
high-fiber breakfast and energy levels, saying that it boosts alertness and
reduces fatigue by 10 per cent. One theory is that it’s because of how fiber
affects digestion: it bumps up the number of friendly bacteria in the digestive
tract and keeps you fuller for longer, both of which help maintain energy
levels.
Top tip: You’ll need to dish out a 40g serve of
high-fiber cereal to enjoy the benefit. And because it takes about a week of
increased fiber intake for the energy-boosting effect to kick in, make it a
daily habit, not just one that’s reserved for when you’re tired.
Before you hit the office
Visit a coffee shop
Feel free to grab a caffeine hit while you’re there, but
it’s not the main reason why this works. Research says total silence shuts the
brain’s creative regions down, and that the average coffee shop has just the
right level of noise to encourage creativity, which can be one of the first
things to go AWOL when you’re tired.
Top tip: Don’t have a coffee shop nearby, or need to
fi re up your creativity again later in the day? There’s an app for that: head
to coffitivity.com to download it, and a coffee-shop vibe, to your smartphone or
desktop.
Feel free to grab
a caffeine hit while you’re there, but it’s not the main reason why this works.
Before midday strikes
Tackle the tricky stuff
It’s the best time to do it. University of Manchester
researchers have found that alertness naturally increases as lunchtime
approaches because your brain intuitively keeps you alert when your body needs
fuel. Plus, between 9am and midday your circadian rhythm, the body clock that
controls your sleep-wake cycle, is in its rising phase, where your body temperature
is increasing and melatonin levels hit rock bottom. It’s a combination that
adds up to your most alert state.
Top tip: Grab a cup s of coffee before you start.
According to a UK study, caffeine increases women’s problem-solving abilities,
helping us complete stressful tasks under pressure more quickly and
effectively.
At lunchtime
Avoid fatty foods
While carbohydrate-rich meals encourage alertness, fatty
foods increase daytime sleepiness, researchers discovered earlier this year. So
forget the burger and hot chips and go for a salad sandwich or pasta salad,
instead.
Forget the burger
and hot chips and go for a salad sandwich or pasta salad, instead.
Top tip: Be aware: being sleep deprived makes fatty
food more attractive, thanks to a combination of impaired decision-making
skills and an increase in activity in the brain regions that respond to
rewards.
