Three Ways to Overcome the Mid-Afternoon Slump

It is shortly after lunch and you are ready for a nap. The mid-afternoon slump is the downfall of many people’s determination to eat well. It is a time when reaching for caffeine, something sweet, or both is almost unconscious as we strive to make it through the afternoon. It does not have to be this way. It takes some time to create a shift to not having a mid-day slump and these three suggestions can help. As you change your habits, you will be able to use the feelings of tiredness, sluggishness, and poor concentration as gauges on your quality of sleep, food, and health rather than it being a constant state.

Reach for a rejuvenating herbal tisane and nix the caffeine

For many people, caffeine in the afternoon can cause poor or interrupted sleep that night. There are many herbs that can give you a boost without the caffeine. Serenity Meadows, Leaf & Twig’s newest tisane, has herbs that can calm and center you while increasing your alertness. I will be talking more about the herbs this month.

Get up and move

This is a very common reason why so many of us feel sluggish in the afternoon. We’ve been sitting all day! Try to take a walk at lunch to curb the tiredness later. Or instead of going for food in the middle of the afternoon, spend some time stretching and walking. Ergonomics is so important and there are easily found stretching series to help you maintain a good posture while working. In fact, changing your posture can make you more alert too!

Look at what you are eating for lunch

This is something I had to do myself. I kept a food diary regularly and found that I was the most tired in the afternoon after I ate certain foods. I also saw that if I did not eat enough protein at this meal I felt tired and unmotivated in the afternoons. Take two weeks to record your meals and rate your afternoon. Review and adjust, continuing to keep track. Once you discover what works for you have fun creating variations of it to keep you focused each day.

There are several other ways to lessen the effects of the mid-afternoon slump. What is your favorite solution?