This morning I woke up in the pitch dark. I looked outside wanted to go back to bed. My clock said it was time to wake up but my body did not agree. Ugh... Daylight Savings Time just robbed us of an hour of precious, glorious sleep.
Today, I'm dragging myself around sleep deprived. The worst part is some experts say this groggy jet lacked feeling could last all week.
Yep, that's right...we might be exhausted ALL WEEK.
The worst part is that many people already were exhausted. Losing an hour of sleep will mean an already tired workforce will be working on even less shut-eye, says Anna Kwok, vice president for Accountemps in Fort Lauderdale, an accounting staffing agency. A study from staffing firm Accountemps found 74% of professionals admitted to already being tired at work, with nearly one-third saying they’re short on sleep very often.
When we're tired at work, we're less focused, more grumpy and stand more of a chance of making stupid mistakes. In the Accountemps survey one really tired respondent admitted to deleting a project that took 1,000 hours to put together. Another admitted to falling asleep in front of the boss during a presentation. So embarrassing!
Some people are lucky enough to work at companies, like Ben & Jerry's, Google and Zappos, that encourage napping on the job to promote psychological and professional benefits. I bet those nap rooms are going to be busy today!
The rest of us have to find some other way to fight that tired feeling. Here are some ideas:
- Take occasional breaks. Get away from your desk and walk around the office.
- Resist cravings for junk food. Instead, keep healthy snacks around to give you stamina
- Stay hydrated. It is a key factor in staying awake. Try putting ice in your water bottle; the cold water will keep you lively and alert.
- Work reasonable hours. This is not the week for launching new all-encompassing projects. Staying late while you get adjusted to the time change can lead to mistakes.
- Sit up. Slouching can lead to fatigue.
- Use eyedrops. Splashing a couple drops in your eyes will make you feel more refreshed
- Tug on your earlobes. Yes, this sounded crazy to me, too, when I heard it. But because of acupoints on your ears, this is a way to get the brain going. Worth a try.
(If you need them, there are more ideas at popsugar.com)
As you reach for another cup of coffee today, be patient with yourself. It may take a few days to get your body clock back on track. In the meantime, I'm going to go to bed earlier tonight and I'm going to try to follow Taylor Swift's advice and "shake It off."
C
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