11 ways to stay awake at work or in class

Everbody gets tired at work, particularly in the early afternoon.  Here are 11 ways to defeat sleepiness at the office or in class.

1. Eat less sugar and carbohydrate - Sugar and carbs cause your blood sugar to spike...then crash. Cut back on the carb-heavy breakfasts (bagels, muffins, toast, juice, fruit) and go with eggs, bacon, vegetables.  For lunch, skip the pasta bowl and go for a cobb salad. For a snack, have a few nuts or some jerky. 

2. Get 10 minutes of sun - Pretend you're a smoker and take a smoke break...then go get some rays.  Sun exposure wakes you up. That's why people get black-out shades when they sleep -- it's harder to sleep with the sun shining on your body.

3. Use a light box - Folks use light boxes for seasonal affective disorder and for re-establishing their circadian rhythms. The light is telling your body that it's daytime!  Or just keep the lights on bright.

4. Take a power nap - 10 minutes goes a long way. Find a place in your office building (or outside) where you can take a little snooze. The bathroom stall works in a pinch.

5. Fast - When I am really tired, this is my go to secret.  Fasting keeps me super alert, even when I'm exhausted.  That's why I was fasting during my interview on Colbert (a post on that later).  The body is saying, "Okay, I'm hungry -- be active and go hunt or gather some food.  Why are you just sitting here?  Don't you want to survive and reproduce?  Get your ass in gear."  Warning: Fasting will be distracting if you typically eat a lot of sugar and carbohydrate or have never done it before.

6. Stand up - I've come to love standing up to work.  It puts you in an active frame of mind.  Imagine trying to work while lying down in a soft bed.  Difficult, right?  So do the opposite.

7. Keep it cold - When it's a little chilly, it's harder to fall asleep.  Turn down the thermostat, open a window, or lose the sweater.

8. Exercise - On your lunch break, go workout at a nearby gym or go for a run.  You'll have an exercise buzz for hours.

9. If you drink caffeine, try to keep it slow and steady - If you're a caffeine drinker, avoid that enormous spike of caffeine in the morning, because you'll crash a few hours later.  A better strategy is to drink coffee or tea a bit slower over a longer stretch.

10. Listen to upbeat music - An old trick.

11. Get more sleep at night - Duh.

For all of these, it's useful to think about what makes you tired, AND THEN DO THE OPPOSITE.  Darkness vs. Light.  Soft music/silence vs. Upbeat music.  Lying down vs. Standing up.  Eating a big meal vs. Fasting.  Inactivity vs. Exercise.  Warm vs. Cold.  Also think about combining methods -- a 10 minute nap in the sun and you will feel like a new person.  Fasting and standing up?  You can stay awake for a year.

Okay, have at it.  Use these tips and you'll have a lot more time to waste on facebook.