What is drowsiness? Why are we sleepy? How to avoid daytime sleepiness?
To solve the problem in detail, we need to know the source, as well as the cause of it. Often sleepiness comes to you for a variety of reasons, such as the body is too tired, lazy, distracted, and sometimes it can be something too dull. Interests also determine a part of what you do and whether you feel bored or sleepy. This is the call of the biological clock in your body. In addition to the above factors, you are sometimes experiencing a symptom called “drowsiness.”
Operation of the biological clock
The body’s biological clock is located in the nerve cell nucleus (SCN) area in the brain that the optic cord passes through. In the SCN area to receive signals, light is required in the environment to maintain the continuous operation of the watch. The uptake of genes and light makes our circadian clockwork, the rhythmic combination of genes and light significant for the operation of the entire body system. And this is the leading cause of our bodies sleeping and waking.
You enter the office with eyes that seem to collapse. Having known the cause of daytime sleepiness will not help you much. The problem is that you need to know some useful tips to start a productive day.
The following are the most effective and straightforward methods that will help you avoid daytime sleepiness and keep energy throughout the day.
Stimulate the senses
The easiest way to stay awake and less sleepy is to stimulate your senses, making your ears, eyes, and even your nose more alert and active.
– Should turn on as many bright lights as possible. And sit close to the most brilliant light source.
The circadian rhythm regulates the sleep cycle – our wake is often affected by daylight. To feel more alert, you should try to spend at least 30 minutes a day outside in natural sunlight. If you have insomnia, sleep experts recommend exposure to the morning sunlight one hour a day.
Studying or working in bed or on a comfortable armchair is comfortable, especially in the winter, but it makes your mind more drowsy. Instead of being in a place that makes you fall asleep quickly, why not move to a site that is a bit noisy and make your mind more focused like a cafe or a desk? Surely you will feel less tempted by the “sleeping god” than when surrounded by a pile of warm pillows.
– Suck on a mint candy or chew gum to give your mouth something to work on.
– Use wind oil, peppermint oil to wake up the sense of smell.
– If you are allowed to listen to music, listen to jazz, hip-hop, rock, or any other music to help you awake. Music has a significant influence on the mood and spirit of each person and can change emotions and increase energy. A study has shown people who regularly listen to music, no matter the volume or beat, are always more energetic than those who don’t. So, to avoid sluggishness, look for a song that is exciting and makes you feel more excited or the one you like. Don’t listen to instrumental music or sad music. It will backfire!
– If you feel tired eyes or hurt, take a break or look at a wall, or look out the window.
Stimulate the body
In addition to stimulating your senses, you can take specific actions to stimulate your body. For example, touching and gently touching earlobes, rubbing palms together are also ways to make you feel more energized. Here are some other helpful ways to keep you awake:
– The easiest way is to laugh. When smiling, the face must use 15 – 20 muscles on the front, while increasing the activity of the heart. So what a pity that you don’t laugh to dispel daytime sleepiness right away. The second way is to put the tongue on the roof of the throat. Use less facial muscles, but this way, when the tongue touches the throat, it will irritate this part, creating discomfort and making you more alert. Finally, please massage your face. Do not push too gently; it will make you more sleepy. Tap on the cheeks to stimulate the muscles and nerves in this position, and you will not need to find ways to stop falling asleep again.
– Use your hands to splash cold water on your face but remember to open your eyes and don’t let the water hurt your eyes.
– Gently massage earlobe from top to bottom to massage.
– Pinch your arms or thighs.
– Hold your left hand, punch in the right palm, open it, and vice versa. Perform about ten times.
– Knead your foot gently on the floor.
– Straighten and pull wrists, arms, and legs.
– Roll and rotate.
– Step outside and breathe fresh air into your lungs.
A little physical activity
No need to run as fast as a marathon to stay awake, light exercise also has a significant impact on waking your body. Have the opportunity to walk to the printer, walk to school, and take the stairs instead of the elevator. Make it a habit to exercise regularly, at least 30 minutes a day. Science proves that exercise helps improve energy and stay awake.
In an analysis of 70 studies involving more than 6,800 people, researchers from the University of Georgia (USA) found that exercise effectively increases energy and reduces daytime fatigue. Compared to some medications used to treat sleep problems. Regular exercise routines not only help you sleep well at night but also a way to get rid of sleep during the day!
Use food to wake your body up
– Start your day with a healthy breakfast! Foods such as eggs, chicken, bread, vegetables (especially celery, kale, mustard greens) or smoothies will help you stay awake and provide nutrients for your workday. Not skip breakfast; it will make you even more tired and sleepy. Note that do not overeat at once, avoid foods rich in starch, high in fat and alcohol.
– Eat into many meals. You can bring high-protein snacks like nuts, fruits or yogurt.
– Use some caffeinated drinks if needed. Caffeine will help you stay awake, but if you drink too much and quickly, you will be prone to headaches, dizziness, even nausea due to stomach pain. Caffeine is found in teas and coffee.
– Avoid energy drinks. They may help you stay awake, but in the long run, will interfere with whether or not you can sleep the next night.
– Sugary snacks will help you boost your energy because low sugar levels will make you drowsy and tired, leading to drowsiness.
– When applying the method of avoiding daytime sleepiness with junk food to boost energy, you can choose healthy foods like fruits, yogurt, nuts.
– Drinking cold water is also an effective method for alertness. Dehydration can make your body tired and sleepy. Make sure you drink enough filtered water or eat plenty of fruits and vegetables such as watermelon, strawberries, grapefruit, melon, peach, pineapple, orange, apricot, plum, apple, etc. You are more alert but also have many healthy vitamins and minerals.
Awaken your mind
If you are in a class, try to give your speech or read a lesson or talk to the teacher. Still working? Talk to a colleague about a task or job involved. If you are out of work, ask people about your family, hobbies, history, politics or hot issues. If you are at home, try calling family and friends; write an email or listen to a new radio talk show channel.
There is another excellent way. You can change to something different from usual: Write a new pen, use a new highlight color, stop typing, instead turn to pen and paper.
Give yourself the right to take a nap
If you are at work and extremely sleepy (when all else does not work), you can jump to the toilet and take a nap for 5-10 minutes. Of course, the toilet must be a bit clean, believe me, this way is advantageous. And when you wake up, wash your face, go out and take a deep breath and drink a glass of water or tea, coffee to regain energy.
Adjusting the living regime
If you often get sleepy, not awake during working hours, please review your lifestyle is healthy. You should try to go to bed early before 24 hours and wake up before six degrees to have healthful habits. If you are in the middle of an exam, or have an urgent project, plan to be able to work effectively.
If you have frequent problems with insomnia, you should go to the doctor for advice or treatment.
Treatment of excessive sleep syndrome
Most of us have days when we feel sleepy. However, some people find excessive sleepiness at work, childcare, or even leisure. This can be a hypersomnia syndrome; the feeling of being sleepy continually makes you want to sleep continuously, even at work.
People with sleep deprivation can sleep up to 18 hours a day and last for several days, sometimes even a week.
When the usual ways of getting rid of sleep are not working, it is most likely because you have a lot of sleep syndrome. The problem of sleeping in the daytime often comes from the night. Sleep deprivation or poor quality sleep can make you tired the next morning. You can apply the following tips on how to avoid daytime sleepiness with a healthy lifestyle to improve the situation:
• Get enough sleep: You should practice going to bed around 10 am – 11 pm and getting up around 5 am – 6 am. This is an appropriate time frame for adults to ensure enough sleep 7-8 hours.
• Create an easy-to-sleep environment: Invest in soft bedding, choose a well-ventilated space for your bedroom, and isolate from electronics about 1-2 hours before bedtime.
• Eat on time: A healthy and punctual eating habit will help you sleep better. Eat dinner at least 2-3 hours before going to bed and avoid stimulants like alcohol and caffeine.
If you find that you have applied all the methods to get rid of sleep but still cannot wake up, it is time to consult a doctor or a sleep specialist. You can have an underlying sleep disorder like excessive drowsiness or narcolepsy that needs treatment. Your doctor may prescribe medication to help you treat sleep disorders.
Consider the use of Stimulants
As a general rule, medications should never be used as a substitute for adequate sleep. Although prescription medications may improve wakefulness and attention, there are inherent side effect risks. Widely prescribed to treat attention deficit disorders, drug medications (modafinil, methylphenidate, armodafinil, amphetamine) are also used in short ways among shift workers and in people with persistent sleepiness because of sleep disorders like sleep apnea and narcolepsy. Depending on the substance, there can be risks of addiction, cardiac arrhythmia, weight changes, and mood effects.
If you believe that you might require the use of medication to stay up late at night, should speak with your physician about these concerns.
See a sleep specialist
Sleep disorders can cause daytime sleepiness. You are incredibly sleepy consistently during the day even when you sleep well, or you fall asleep without warning during daily activities. You can have a sleep disorder such asnarcolepsyorsleep apnea, a breathing problem that occurs during sleep. According to Krakow, undiagnosed and untreated nap disorders are the most significant cause of daytimefatigueand sleepiness.
Certain illnesses and medications can also cause problem sleepiness. And mental conditions such asdepression,posttraumatic stress disorder,anxietyare quite regularly linked to sleep problems.
An asleep specialist design a treatment program for you that treats the underlying sleep disorder. Also helps you develop better sleep habits and attitudes through cognitive behavioral therapy. Sometimes it may take a combination of medication and behavioral therapy to eliminate daytime sleepiness, but it could be done.
Thank you for taking the time to read our article. And if you have any questions you need, please feel free to comment under the comment section. We will answer you as soon as possible.
Hopefully, you will find useful tips and quick and effective to shave! Good luck!
Also, you should readsome articlelike”How to build stronger bones?”, “How to Get Rid Of Bad Breath“, “How to Stop Yourself From Overthinking“, ”How to Stop A Baby from Crying At Night“, and “How to stop hiccups“… to know more!
