I’ve recently been extremely busy and had fallen behind on some of my tasks and also had a new bunch of tasks to take care of too.

I decided to put more hours in to get the work done but found that as I was working I just couldn’t stay awake!

This had the knock on effect of making me have to work longer to catch up with my work, which in turn made me feel more tired.

I eventually got the work done and what I want to share with you was what I learned by having to go through that difficulty so that it may help you if you ever find yourself in that situation.

• Drowsy Whilst Working
• What Tiredness Costs You
• Mix and Match
• Review
• Conclusion

Drowsy Whilst Working

Many of us go through phases where we feel too tired to get the job done but we do somehow. In my own life I’ve experienced this as a student, employee, employer and parent.

Even though we get through these phases and complete the tasks or goals that we have to achieve, the experience is far from pleasurable. Over time if we repeat these cycles it can become extremely difficult to motivate ourselves to even attempt to get things done.

This is bad as we can start to attribute these feelings with the tasks that we have to do, making us feel resentful and depressed.

What Tiredness Costs You

Having feelings of resentment because you are tired whilst working (or studying) makes the work more difficult than it needs to be.

Feeling tired makes it difficult to do basic cognitive functions such as paying attention, concentration, accuracy and memory recall, which results in less than stellar performance and less productivity – leading to feeling even more resentful and frustrated. 

Over the long term this can lead to mood disorders and chronic diseases, causing harm to your career or long-term life goals. 

Mix and Match

There are a myriad of techniques that you can use to get you over that hump when you’ve got to get some work done. 

But what I found that worked surprisingly well was mixing and matching the following techniques. The beauty of this is that everyone is different so it gives you the opportunity to tailor it to your own needs as you see fit, giving it more chance of success because it is your work that you put the effort into.

• Motivation
  This is probably key to making all the other steps work, or work better. Give yourself a target that if you achieve you’ll get a reward of your choice. Make multiple or incremental goals to help motivate you to get through the difficult parts.
  
• Give yourself time limits
  Set a time limit for blocks of work or study, say three twenty to twenty-five minute periods, using the Pomodoro technique, or other themed timer app (I use Forest).
  
• Use a tiredness monitor or alarm
  Even though you are tired, use a tiredness alarm like V-CAF that notifies you when you are going to nod off. That way you can stop where you are and refocus yourself and wake yourself up so that you have full concentration until the next alarm.
  
• Drink something (not alcoholic)
  For me water is best, but there are other alternatives to caffeine based energy drinks such as B vitamin products, herbal and protein supplements. And of course there are caffeine drinks and products too, but these are my last choice.

Review

What eventually worked for me was to motivate myself with a reward, drinking water and using the tiredness monitor.

You are free to try the same or make your own mix, as long as you try something to get over that hump.

Once again:

• Motivate yourself by setting goals that give you a reward if completed
• Give yourself time limits, use tools like The Pomodoro Technique or Forest to help focus on the task at hand
• Use tiredness monitors like V-CAF.
• Drink water, energy drinks, coffee – whatever works for you

Conclusion

The key here is to set your own goals and use your own system to get the results you need.

Nobody knows you better than yourself.