What are quick ways to fight afternoon drowsiness?

The dreaded afternoon slump. We all experience it, we’re all familiar with it. You’re staring at your laptop screen, but it feels like your mind has logged off. It’s like the tiny office manager in your brain clocks out without even informing you. Your emails might be coming in, the to-do list may be getting longer, but your brain feels stuck, and you keep wanting to doze off. 

This is a universal experience of afternoon drowsiness that affects almost every other person out there. This afternoon slump is more than a break in your productivity. Your body might be trying to tell you something through this afternoon slump. Maybe it’s exhibiting the effects of an irregular sleep-wake cycle, a restless night, or your wake-up schedule. There are a multitude of reasons behind your sleepiness during the afternoon. 

It’s not always smart to push harder in these situations. Sometimes just a few changes in your schedule can help make you feel more awake without turning your entire afternoon into a battle with yourself. 

Why Does Afternoon Drowsiness Happen?

Feeling sleepy during the afternoon is not a sign that you’re lazy or you’re not being productive enough. We all have internal clocks in our bodies, and they’re approximately 24-hour long. This internal clock, known as the circadian rhythm, regulates your sleep, hormone levels, body temperature and even wakefulness. According to the body clock, most individuals experience a dip in their alertness between 1 pm and 4 pm. The specific hours may vary from person to person. 

There’s also sleep pressure that builds during the day and the longer you stay awake. There’s a chemical called adenosine that builds up when a person is awake, and that accumulated adenosine can make you feel like you need to go to sleep. After your lunch, this sleep pressure can also coincide with your circadian rhythm and make you feel sleepier. 

Your lunch may add to the problem, particularly if you eat a very large meal and then sit still for hours. However, carbohydrates are not automatically responsible for feeling sleepy after eating. Meal size, composition, sleep quality, hydration, activity, and individual differences can all play a role.

Along with the sleep pressure and your body clock, another thing that might add to your afternoon drowsiness might be what you have eaten for your lunch. A large meal and then sitting for hours can mess it up for people. It’s not only carbs that are responsible for your state of sleepiness but the processed ones. Complex carbs are actually good for your health and energy and keep you fuller for longer. 

The size of your meal, sleep quality, hydration, and your physical activity can all be one of the causes of afternoon drowsiness.

Quick Ways To Fight Your Afternoon Slump

Here are some quick ways to stay awake in the afternoon. Getting water and being hydrated is one of the best natural ways to fight daytime sleepiness. Being dehydrated can make you feel tired and foggy. Staying on top of your hydration is one of the most effective ways to tackle this. 

Then there’s physical movement. Just walking around for 5-10 minutes after your lunch can help lower the glucose spike your body might experience after lunch. Physical movement after your meal will make you feel lighter and help your body process the glucose. The lower the spike of glucose after your meal, the lesser the chances there are of you experiencing a sugar crash and losing your energy.

Daylight is another thing that can help. Getting some daylight after your meal or when you feel exhausted is guaranteed to make you feel better than any other TikTok will. You can also go ahead and splash some cold water on your face if you get too drowsy after your lunch. 

These are just some brief tips to stay alert after lunch. There is no single magic trip that will suddenly make you feel at your peak but more so a bunch of things you can do to reduce the risk of an afternoon slump. 

Have A Balanced Lunch

Heavy lunches make things worse for plenty of people. Several people end up having a giant bowl of pasta and then wonder why their eyes won’t stay open. A heavy lunch can end up making you feel uncomfortable and sluggish, as mentioned earlier. Now before you think of skipping this important meal, you should know how important it is to maintain your energy levels. 

Instead of having a processed, carb-heavy lunch, build your meal plate mindfully. Add protein, veggies, complex and fiber-rich carbs, and healthy fats, and you should be good to go. Foods that help reduce daytime fatigue are eggs, chicken, beans, yogurt, and nuts. 

Sugar is sneaky. It might provide quick energy, but soon there’s a drop, and it might leave you craving for more sugar. It’s a loop that just keeps going round and round. When you look at how to improve concentration during the day, they are simple things you can do. Get a smaller portion. Go on a short walk afterwards. Skip the second biscuit. That’s honestly most of it.

Caffeine For Your Afternoon Slump

Coffee or tea can also improve alertness temporarily because caffeine blocks adenosine receptors. However, the effect varies from person to person, and caffeine consumed late in the day can interfere with nighttime sleep. If you already drink several cups daily, adding more may not be the best long-term solution.

A cup of joe always helps in giving your brain and body that hit that you oftentimes need. However, caffeinated drinks always come with their own drawbacks. Have too much or too late, and suddenly you’re up during the witching hours. A cup around 1 pm is mostly fine, but having four cups or having it when it’s already 5 pm or 6 pm can directly affect your sleep quality during the night. 

Rather than coffee, you might want to switch things up and try to go for tea the next time you feel sleepy since it has a smaller amount of caffeine than coffee.

Protect Your Nighttime Sleep

The best defense you have against that afternoon slump is your sleep the night before. Most adults need at least 6-7 hours of sleep every night, but a lot of individuals don’t end up hitting this mark, or they do but only for a few nights. 

Have a consistent bedtime and wake-up time as well, try to not look at your screen so much just before you are about to sleep, and try to avoid any caffeinated drinks too close to your bedtime. Some individuals may think they can consume alcohol since it helps them sleep, and while it does help initially, it’s not the best in the long run and can stop you from having a consistent sleep pattern. 

Being deprived of sleep can affect your memory, decision-making, and even concentration. So if you’re looking for how to improve concentration during the day, this might be it. 

When Medications Can Help Fight Daytime Sleepiness

Modalert is a branded version of modafinil, a wakefulness-promoting medicine. It comes as Modalert 100 mg and Modalert 200 mg tablets. It isn’t a stimulant in the caffeine sense. It’s thought to act on brain chemicals that regulate the sleep-wake cycle, although exactly how isn’t fully understood.

Modafinil medications aren’t meant for just ordinary tiredness, and they don’t replace sleep. Everyday afternoon drowsiness in someone with no sleep disorder is not what it’s for.

For adults with a diagnosed condition, your healthcare provider may decide between Modalert 100 mg and Modalert 200 mg. The usual labelled daily dose for narcolepsy or sleep apnea is 200 mg, normally taken in the morning, which is where Modalert 200 mg comes in.

Side effects exist. Headache, nausea, nervousness, trouble sleeping. Rare but serious skin reactions have been reported. It can also make hormonal birth control less reliable, and it isn’t recommended in pregnancy. Which is why a thorough conversation with your healthcare provider is important.