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After Lunch Pick-You-Ups
12. Put a drop of peppermint oil in your hand and briskly rub your hands together, then rub them over your face (avoid your eyes). Peppermint is a known energy-enhancing scent.13. Roll your shoulders forward, then backward, timing each roll with a deep breath in and out. Repeat for 2 minutes.
14. Put on some high-energy music and dance for five minutes. If you have an office, great. Just close the door. If not, bring a Walkman, head to the bathroom or an unused conference room, and let 'er rip! Get pumped, rather than pooped!
15. Consider a morsel of dark chocolate. We're not encouraging overindulging, but dark chocolate at midday has some unique advantages. Unlike milk chocolate, it is truly a "healthful" food that is more in the category of nuts than candies, given the high levels of healthful fat and antioxidants it contains. Plus, it has abundant fiber and magnesium. Additionally, it provides a bit of caffeine, as well as a decadent feeling. Stick to one piece, though.
16. Chew some "spicy" gum such as Dentyne Wintermint Ice Chewing Gum -- or MintABurst Mint Chewing gum. Strong minty flavors are stimulating, and the mere act of chewing is something of a tonic to a brain succumbing to lethargy. Plus, the act of chewing stimulates saliva, which helps clear out cavity and gum disease-causing bacteria from lunch. Just make sure to go sugarless.
17. Plan group activities for midday. If you often work on your own, try to cluster work involving others at the time of day when your concentration might otherwise be waning. We are social animals, and interactions always rev us up. Just make sure it's an interesting, interactive activity. Sitting in a room listening to someone else drone on and on will just send you snoozing.
18. Do your filing. It's a physical activity that gets you up from your desk, bending and stooping and pulling and stretching. Plus, it's something you can lose yourself in, and any activity that enables you to get into a "flow" will pull you through those doldrums as easily as an 18-wheeler could pull a MINI Cooper.
19. Take 10 minutes for isometric exercises. Isometric exercises involve nothing more than tensing a muscle and holding it. For instance, with your arm held out, tense your biceps and triceps at the same time and hold for 5 to 10 seconds. You can do this with your calf muscles, thigh muscles (front and back), chest, abdomen, buttocks, shoulders, and back. In fact, if you wanted to, you could work a rotation, or cycle, of isometric exercises involving almost your entire body into your desk job every day. The total workout would be quite significant, despite never interrupting your work, and never breaking a sweat. Plus, you're not only toning your body, you're toning your mind.
20. Weave variety into your workday. Tedium taxes the mind, and induces somnolence. Most studies suggest concentration for anything wanes after an hour, and is pretty near to pitiful at 90 minutes. So divide your tasks to maximize a balance between variety and productivity. For instance, if you have a large report to get out, work on it for 30 minutes, switch to something else for 30 minutes, then return to the report.
21. Get up whenever reasonable and possible. Just because you have an intercom and e-mail doesn't mean you always have to use them. Try darting down the hall or up the stairs even for simple questions or messages. Studies find that short bursts of even very modest activity burn calories, help tone muscles, and keep your mind brisk and alert.
22. Keep a rosemary plant in your office. Not only will sharing your space with a live, growing thing provide its own mood boost, but studies find the scent of rosemary to be energizing. Whenever you need a boost, just rub one of the sprigs between your fingers to release the fragrance into the air. Or, if you're really wiped out, clip off a sprig and rub it on your hands, face, and neck to saturate yourself in the scent.
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