Geek-Cube: Work Fatigue
I’m sure we’ve all been through this. You’re in a meeting or at your desk while the boss is going off on some boring topic you don’t really care about, or you’re working on something lame and repetitive and find the little characters on your screen are starting to blur and fade. Before you know it, your eyes have shut and you’re well on your way to dreamland. Well, that certainly won’t get you any promotions! What are ways to combat fatigue at work? Well, I have a few suggestions.
Let’s start off with the usual: Get plenty of it the night before. Eat a good breakfast (not too much fat). Drink water. Avoid the caffeine and sweets to prevent spikes and crashes. Go outside and walk during your breaks. Okay, we know those. We know that making sure the body is properly fueled will help keep the energy levels going all day long. Exercise gets the circulation going. Even spending five minutes not looking at your monitor will do a lot to prevent eye strain and starve off the droopy-eyes. Really, those are usually agreed upon to be the most reliable ways to prevent work fatigue in a healthy manner.
What if you really, really want that caffeine? What if you feel you need the quick burst and don’t care about the crash later? You’re in luck. There are a number of caffeinated candies now, many like Nixie Tubes and Stay Puft Gourmet Caffeinated Marshmallows are available through ThinkGeek. They even sell caffeinated lip balm. Plenty of gas stations are selling Bawls sodas and G33K B33R, all known for their guarana-powered punch and refreshing taste. One of my old favorites has been harder to find lately, but Penguin Mints offer quite a bit of caffeine in a tasty little package. (Hint: try the chocolate ones.) I’m not even going to bring up recipes for “HAX0R Cookies”.
Want to do it without caffeine? There’s other ways to do that. One of my favorite things that kept me from being bored into slumberland was listening on my iPhone. I’m a BIG fan of podcasts, and not just because I happen to do them. I’m a history nut, so listening to podcasts about interesting historical finds and figures in history kept my brain engaged. There’s AOL Radio or Pandora for a number of mobile devices and PCs (if you can get on the Internet) if you want music or even comedy. I was also fond of putting whole comedy albums on my phone since music tends to make me zone out. If none of those work for you, keep a journal at your desk and force your eyes away from your computer. Engage your mind for a few moments doing something other than work. If all else fails, find a reason to get up and leave your desk. Sometimes just a little effort can do wonders for alertness.
My last bit of advice is if this is happening to you way too often, take a day off. If it keeps happening and not just because you’re bored at work, it might be something you need to talk to your doctor about or that requires some kind of lifestyle change. In my case, extreme fatigue turned out to be a case of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome that resulted in taking medication and giving myself shots of B-12. I’ve since recovered for the most part, but I learned that one shouldn’t be afraid to see a doctor if you have a chronic issue. And really, overall, lifestyle does have a lot to do with how you function daily.
Make sure you keep your eyes on this spot in the next few weeks. It’s time to focus on fun, which definitely goes a long way to keep one from passing out at work. I’ll also be polling my dear readers to find how they keep sane at work. In the meantime, tell me what you do to fight fatigue at work or if any of my own methods are useful. Feedback helps! Until then, STAY AWAKE.
Geek-Cube is a weekly column about integrating your geek life with your work environment.
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http://mousewings.livejournal.com/ Iris
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