The afternoon slump

When students in Denmark have to take national standardized tests they take them on a computer but because there are more students than computers they have to take these tests at different times when researchers looked at 4 years of test results they found an interesting correlation between students who took the test in the morning scored higher than those who took it in the afternoon for every hour later in the day the students took the tests discourse fell a little more timing of the test wasn’t everything of course but it was a large component.

So what exactly is going on here well you might have noticed yourself that sometimes when the afternoon rolls around you become less productive you’re not as motivated to do the work you have a hard time focusing and even the work that you do is of lower quality a lot of people around the globe experience this exact phenomenon every single day and it has a name the afternoon slump.

There’s a biological reason why this happens you see a lot of our bodily functions are controlled by our circadian rhythm this reading works kind of like an internal clock it controls our hormones body temperature blood pressure and many other functions throughout the day if you have ever wondered how your body knows when to go to sleep and want to wake up it’s because of your circadian rhythm when it’s time to go to bed your body releases melatonin to make you feel sleepy when it’s time to wake up melatonin secretion stops and your body releases cortisol to get you up and moving now the circadian rhythm also influences our alertness and mental ability along with energy levels our cognitive abilities do not remain the same over the course of the day we are smarter and more energetic during some parts of the day while during others we are the opposite for example during the night we experience a massive drop in energy and alertness particularly between 2:00 AM to 4:00 AM

but we don’t usually notice this drop in mental ability since most of us are asleep however upon awaking our energy and alertness deadly increase over the course of the day until they reach a peak in late morning that’s when we tend to be at our cognitive best but did not speak is then followed by an afternoon low which we call the afternoon slump the locker is approximately 7:00 hours upon waking up which is usually between 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM for most people.

This is what the afternoon slump as a natural biological occurrence orchestrated by your circadian rhythm this is why medical professionals make more mistakes why students get lower scores and why you aren’t focused and unmotivated during that time the afternoon slump is then followed by another period of alertness but does our body gets ready for sleep we experience a slow decline in energy every person’s rhythm is slightly different but the majority follow a similar pattern.

If I were to draw a 24-hour graph of your alertness it would look something like this. it slowly rises after waking up until it reaches a peak in the late morning than in the afternoon it dips down when the afternoon slump is over it bounces up again then as bedtime approaches it slowly decreases a big drop occurs in the middle of the night would you most likely don’t notice and as you wake up the cycle repeats all over again. Now while the afternoon slump is natural there are a few things that amplify it and make it worse but there are also a few key habits that can help to reduce it. Let’s first take a look at what can make the day pours one of the things is the lack of sleep this shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone when you get an insufficient amount of sleep your mental alertness is severely reduced especially during the afternoon slump but if you’re getting an optimal amount of sleep on a regular basis the circadian dip is going to be less intense

I know that a lot of people try to get more time in their day by cutting on their sleep they hope to get more done since they are awake longer which is a rookie mistake what do people don’t realize is that they’re functioning sub-optimally throughout the day sure they have more time but they have a hard time focusing and thus it takes them longer to get their work done likewise people who get optimal sleep might have slightly less time in the day but they have more energy and they function much better, as a result, getting more high-quality sleep is necessary for optimal mental and physical performance so get your sleep 7 to 9:00 hours per night has been shown to be the healthiest for most adults but optimally you should be sleeping without an alarm clock and let your body wake up naturally instead of forcefully.

Another thing that can amplify the afternoon slump is a big carbohydrates lunch digestion can take up a lot of energy especially big meals give your stomach quite a workload however what can make it even worse our meals that are made out of simple carbs such as sugar when you eat simple carbohydrates your blood glucose tends to spike up giving you temporary energy put to that spike is then followed by a decrease in glucose levels which results in a crash below your usual levels when you pair just sugar crash with an afternoon slump and your resistible urge to sleep might overcome you so to avoid this massive crash at lunchtime avoid begin having meals made out of simple carbs instead go for smaller portions with a variety of different nutrients such as protein fat and fiber.

I mentioned before how students with the tests in the afternoon scored lower than those who took them in the morning and many people believe that the solution to this problem would be to move all the tests before noon however the researchers who studied those test results also discovered something else students who had a 20 to 30-minute break before the test to eat play and chat did not see a decline in their scores in fact today increased scores went up after a break-even if the test was taken in the afternoon. These days taking a break is looked down upon others quickly label us as dull if we do and often we even designate ourselves this way that’s because most people believe that to get more work done they should just keep on working however when we stick with a task for too long intervention leads to mental fatigue we’re not as focused we do our work slower and we make more mistakes I’m sure you’ve noticed this yourself you’re trying to focus on your work put your mind just keeps on wondering and thinking about something else deliberate breaks are extremely underrated since they can help us minimize and avoid all of that especially when a break is taken during the afternoon slump. So what is the proper break consist of? there are 4 things.

First is the detachment on your break you don’t want to think about work or whatever you were doing otherwise you might intensify your mental fatigue further instead you want up psychologically detach and think about something that’s not related to work and isn’t cognitively demanding.

Second is a movement taking a walk will boost your energy levels sharpen your focus and reduce the feelings of fatigue in the afternoon one study found that walking around for 5 minutes roughly every hour during the workday is more effective than a single 30-minute walk so if you have an option take shorter walking breaks frequently if not a longer walk break is still better than nothing.

Third, go outside taking a short walk outdoors will content to more than if you take a walk inside not only will it get more sun exposure you will also physically detach from work.

Yet another way to recharge during the afternoon slump is to take a power nap napping can lead to considerable benefits in terms of alertness and cognitive performance a 5 minute nap has no effect but a 10 to 20 minutes nap has proven to increase mental alertness for 3:00 hours a lot of people who train napping could make one big mistake and end up feeling even worse after it that’s because when a nap is longer than 20 minutes our brain begins to fall into deeper stages of sleep if that happens you experience something called sleep inertia you know that feeling in the morning when you wake up and feel groggy disoriented and sluggish that sleep inertia and if you’re not for too long you’re going to feel more tired and sleepy than before you took the nap so keep the power naps short you don’t want to fall asleep during the nap and you shouldn’t think of napping and sleeping instead you can think of it more like a relaxing meditation where you close arise lay down and just let mind to disconnect for 15 minutes.

Now I understand that not everyone has the option to take a nap or a longer break during the afternoon slump because your workplace doesn’t offer that flexibility or you might be one of those people who just want the power to it. If you fall into this category I at least recommend not doing any important work during the slump instead you should switch to something that doesn’t require as much concentration things that are familiar and is not as important and can be done on autopilot easy tasks basically your most important and difficult work should be done before or after the slump that’s when your cognitive abilities are at their peak and you don’t compromise your work.