Sleep Deprivation — America’s Dirty Little Secret

Sleep deprivation is America’s dirty little secret. And unless you want to adjust your lifestyle, guerrilla tactics for combating fatigue are on your agenda! Try these twelve tips to steer clear of tired.

12 Tips To Steer Clear of “Tired”

1. Coffee, energy drinks and caffeinated drinks or foods (chocolate), will give you a temporary boost.

2. Food will give you a lift — but carbs (anything that’s white like bread or pasta) will make you tired, after the initial energy boost. Try protein or fruit.

3. Smoothies with ginseng or other herbal lifts.

4. Napping is a terrific way to alleviate fatigue and give you a second wind.

5. Fresh air. Open the window!

6. Change your clothes. Put on something bright, peppy and comfortable to improve your mood and your energy level.

7. Conserve what energy you have. Limit phone calls that may suck your energy and keep you from doing what you really needed to do during the day. Don’t answer the doorbell if you have other things to do.

8. Try some music in the background, if it makes drudgery a little less depressing.

9. Reward yourself at the end of the task. Promise yourself a shoe-shopping spree if you can get through your project that is making you want a nap.

10. Do something stimulating as a break. Read a great chapter in a book. Watch (one) television program that enervates you.

11. Shower — even if you already have. Use aromatherapy to wake you up — in the form of great smelling shampoo, soaps or cologne.

12. Exercise. Do a handstand, or tumble around on the floor to shake up your energy, and get your blood flowing in a different way.