Five Exercises You Can Do At Your Desk That Will Make You Feel Less Sleepy

We’ve all been there: you’re sitting at your desk late in the afternoon, unable to concentrate on your work, and struggling to stay awake.

It’s hard to know exactly why we feel so sleepy during the day. It might be because as the day goes on, we face more distractions and have less willpower to resist them. It might also be because our bodies are programmed to sleep when it’s dark outside, and we spend more of our days surrounded by artificial light. Whatever the reason, it’s important to beat drowsiness if you want to stay productive. Here are a few quick exercises you can do at your desk when you’re feeling tired:

• Stand up and stretch. Stretching helps keep blood flowing through your body so that you feel energized and awake. Try holding each stretch for 15 seconds or more, then repeat for each side of the body.
• Take a walk around the block or down the hall. Even a short break from your desk can help get blood flowing again and give you some much-needed energy.
• Breathe deeply from your diaphragm (the area below your lungs) instead of from your upper chest — try placing one hand on your stomach and breathing in deeply until it expands beneath your hand.
• Do some wrist curls: You can do this one sitting down or standing up. Simply extend your arm and curl your hand into a fist, hold it there for five seconds, and then release. Do three sets of 10 reps on each arm.
• Close your eyes and imagine yourself walking in a beautiful forest or sitting on a beach. Picture the sounds around you, the smell of the ocean or the sound of children playing. If you are sitting at a computer screen, look away from it and picture this scene in your mind’s eye instead. This refreshes the visual part of your brain that is fatigued by staring at a screen all day long.