Not Be Tired
Being tired is the worst. Not only does being tired make it impossible for you to enjoy your day, but it also makes you feel physically and mentally drained. If you want to avoid being tired on a permanent basis, you need to start transforming your routine instead of just cheating sleep. If you want to know how to not be tired and to start enjoying your life more, just follow these steps!
Contents
Steps
Follow a Solid Morning Routine
- Wake up feeling great. Waking up on the right side of the bed really is the key to having a great day and feeling alert and refreshed. As you hone your morning routine, you need to find what works best for you and execute your wake-up plan every time so you wake up feeling balanced instead of scattered and rushed. Here's what you should do to start off your morning the right way:
- Don't hit snooze. Hit the alarm and get ready to start your day. Hitting snooze will just waste your time and will plunge you into a drowsy half-sleep for a few extra minutes.
- Take a deep breath and fill your lungs with air.
- Get up and smile! Don't waste time playing around with your phone or yawning and tossing and turning. The sooner you get started, the better you'll feel.
- If you're still feeling sleepy, take a step outside or on your balcony to breathe in some crisp morning air.
- Always give yourself enough time to get ready. Though you may think you'll feel more well-rested if you let yourself sleep for ten extra minutes, this will actually have a negative effect if it means that you give yourself ten less minutes to get ready. Though sleep is precious, it's equally important to walk out of the house feeling relaxed and refreshed instead of like you're sleepwalking.
- Wake up. Next, go to the bathroom and start getting your face and body ready for the day. Brushing your teeth and hair will make you feel like you're getting ready for your day, and the bright lights in the room will slowly make you more alert. Here's what you should do:
- Splash some cold water on your face.
- Try a morning shower. Though some people like to shower at night, taking a cool shower in the morning is a great way to wake up. Just don't take a warm or hot shower, or you'll be ready for bedtime.
- Consider having a radio in the bathroom to play your favorite pump-up music to get yourself up, or just sing to yourself.
- Start your day off with a healthy breakfast. A healthy breakfast is the key to a healthy and alert day. The wrong breakfast -- or even worse, no breakfast at all -- can make you feel sluggish and fatigued for the rest of your waking hours. It's important to make time to eat a healthy and filling meal no matter how busy you are. Here are some foods to try:
- Fruit, yogurt, and granola.
- Greens like spinach, kale, or celery. Try mixing them up into a smoothie.
- Eggs and a lean ham or turkey. They will give you protein, which is required within your body for the growth and repair of tissues and damaged cells; this will give you a clear thought process throughout the day.
- Oatmeal, whole grain bread, or healthy cereal. Avoid sugary cereals because they will give you a spike of energy that will make you crash later.
- Avoid foods that are soaked in grease, butter, or maple syrup. These foods can be great for the weekend or special occasions, when you're trying indulge and relax a little more and aren't so focused on being alert.
Stay Alert Throughout the Day
- Keep your senses stimulated. If your senses aren't stimulated, then your mind won't be stimulated and you'll be headed toward nap mode. If you want to stay alert, you have to work to make sure that your eyes, ears, and even your nose is stimulated throughout the day. There are some things you can do to achieve this, whether you're home, at work, or at school. Here are a few:
- Keep your mouth engaged by sucking on a mint or chewing gum. This is a great trick especially if you're feeling tired during your morning or evening commute.
- Let there be light. Turn on as many lights as you can if you're in a position to control the lights. Or better yet, try to position yourself near a window that gives you a great source of light. Sitting directly in the sun can make you tired, but being near sunlight can wake up your senses.
- Wake up your sense of smell by sniffing peppermint oil. You can carry a tiny bottle of it with you.
- Keep your eyes active by taking breaks to shift your gaze when they get tired from looking at the same thing.
- Listen to music. Jazz, hip-hop, or light rock can wake you up. If you can, talk radio can also make your senses more alert because you'll have to engage with the material more actively.
- Keep your body active. Keeping your body stimulated is just as important as stimulating your senses. If your body is more active, your mind will be too, so you should try to keep your body engaged no matter where you are -- even if you're stuck at a desk all day, you can do a few things to stay more engaged. Try a few of these tricks:
- Gently pull down on your earlobes.
- Pinch yourself in sensitive places. Pinch yourself in parts of your body that don't have much fat, such as your forearms or the place under your knees.
- Stretch your wrists by pulling your fingers back away from you.
- Roll your shoulders and your neck.
- If you really feel like you're in danger of falling asleep, lightly bite down on your tongue.
- Exercise. Though you may think that exercising will make you feel more tired, it actually will have the opposite effect if you do it in moderation. Exercising will improve your overall energy level and will make you feel invigorated. Exercising works best in the morning and afternoon because that's when you'll need an extra boost of energy; if you work out late in the evening, your adrenaline will spike and may make it harder for you to fall asleep. Here are some great ways to exercise:
- Go for a jog around your neighborhood in the morning. Nothing will wake you up like filling your lungs with fresh air.
- Take a morning yoga class. This is another great way to clear your mind, improve your breathing, and to get ready for the day.
- Join a team sport, such as soccer, volleyball, or baseball. This will keep your mind and body more energized.
- Try to take a 20-minute walk at least a few times a week whenever you can.
- If you can't exercise, try some light physical activity. Even if you don't have time for a full workout, you can make your body more alert by taking out the time to do some basic physical activity throughout your day. Just five or ten minutes of extra exercise from time to time is a great way to tell your body, "Hey, it's not time for sleep!" Here are some easy ways to do some light physical activity:
- Walk whenever you can. If you're in school, try walking there instead of taking the bus if it's not too far away, or taking the longest route possible to get to class if it won't make you late. If you're at work, take short walks in the halls or go across the street to get coffee.
- Avoid elevators whenever you can. Take the stairs to pick up your heart rate.
- If you're at a desk all day, stand to do some basic stretches from time to time.
- Maintain a healthy diet. A healthy breakfast is a great way to kick off your day, but you need to follow it up with a nutritious lunch and dinner as well. Eating healthy foods will give you more sustenance and energy, while the wrong foods can drag you down and make you feel ready for bed. Try these healthy eating tips to avoid being tired:
- Don't forget to snack when you're feeling tired or a little bit hungry. Carry around an array of healthy snacks so you don't give in to thee vending machine. Some great snack foods are almonds, cashews, celery sticks, and peanut butter. Fruit is always a great snack and it's easy to bring with you wherever you go.
- Eat three healthy and balanced meals throughout the day. Make room for some light snacking so you don't overindulge during mealtime.
- Avoid heavy meals, starchy foods or foods that are high in fat, and alcohol. All of these foods will make you more tired and will tax your digestive system.
- Try some caffeine. If you need it, caffeine is a great help for staying awake. Try a cup of tea or a cup of coffee, but don't overdo it because it can make you crash.
- Stay hydrated throughout the day. Water will always rejuvenate you.
- Keep your mind active. If your mind is engaged, excited, or even being creative, it's guaranteed that you'll be less tired. To keep your mind focused, you should make sure you're always focusing on something interesting instead of daydreaming or drifting off. There are a number of ways that you can ensure that your mind is always engaged.
- Switch tasks from time to time. You may get bored if you're doing the same thing for hours in a row, so take breaks to have a healthy snack, stand at the window, or send a quick text message to a friend.
- If you're at work, strike up a conversation with a colleague in the break room. This will make you more alert, and you may even end up laughing and having a great time.
- If you're in school, pay extra attention to what your teacher is saying. Ask and answer questions to be a part of the discussion, and take notes with pens in multiple colors so your note-taking feels less monotonous.
Have a Goodnight Game Plan
- Go to bed with the right mindset. To make sure that you won't be tired the next day, it's important for you to go to bed feeling positive and excited about starting the next day. If you're feeling grumpy or even angry it will be much harder for you to go to sleep. Here are a few things to do:
- Don't ever go to bed mad. If you're angry because you had a fight with someone you love, however big or small, try to resolve it to the extent that you can before falling asleep.
- Think of at least two things you're looking forward to the next day. If you go to bed feeling positive, you will be more excited about getting up.
- Visualize your wake-up success. It may sound silly, but you should imagine yourself hitting your alarm as soon as it goes off, stretching, and jumping right out of bed. If you visually it enough times, it will become second nature to you in the morning.
- Have a strong bedtime routine. Having a good routine for getting ready for bed is just as important as having a good morning routine. Going to bed the right way is the key to not being tired. Once you find what works for you, you should try to do the same thing every time so your body gets used to your bedtime routine. Here's what to do:
- Go to bed and wake up at the same time every night. Though this may sound difficult with your busy schedule, it's the easiest way to make sure you're not tired. Having a consistent routine of 7 hours of sleep a night is much better than sleeping 5 or 6 hours a night and then sleeping 10 hours the next night. This will make your body feel out of balance.
- Avoid spicy foods, alcohol, chocolate, or caffeine in the hours before you go to bed, or you will stay up longer. Cut off caffeine after noon if you really want to go to bed without any trouble.
- Take some small steps that will make it easier for you to get up. Set up your coffee maker or put out your clothes for the next day.
Tips
- Avoid energy drinks. Though they will make you feel wide awake for an hour or two, they will also make you crash and feel tired without being able to sleep.
- Don't skip meals. This is a guaranteed way to make you feel more tired.
- If you're feeling really tired during the day, take a quick power nap. This will surely wake you up. Just remember that if you nap for more than 20 minutes, that you can actually make yourself more tired.
- Go to bed early!
- Try looking forward to the end of your day.
- Sleeping more or less than you usually do will throw your sleep off balance and make you more tired.
- Stay active throughout the day.
- Have a cold shower. This will wake you up instantly.
- Don't go on devices such as your phone an hour before you plan on going to sleep as this wakes up your mind. Try reading for an hour instead.
Warnings
- Don't drive if you feel like you're falling asleep.
- Not having enough sleep is bad for your immune system and body in general.
