There are many ways to slap of the sleepies outta you when you are trying to stay awake. On the contrary, getting enough sleep and rest prior to wanting to stay awake, is also good for the body. There are a lot of energy boosters that claim to give you what you need, and some actually do. However they might not be the safest or healthiest ways of trying to keep a tired body awake. So depending on why you are trying to stay awake, make sure you are treating your body right. You only have one. Having said that, here are a few ways that you can try to do that naturally support your body to stay awake.
1. Take a Cold Shower
This is the fastest way to get your body to wake up. Not only are you jolting your body during the shower, the mere act of getting up from wherever you are is your next indicated step. Get to the bathroom and take a shower. This will reset some of your body’s need to shut down. However, if you are driving and you are trying to stay awake, the best solution is to pull over on the side of a road and take a fat nap. While you may need to get there, sleeping on the wheel may never let you reach the destination you want. Make sure you do not hurt yourself or others. Safety over everything! On the contrary, if you are home, take that shower.
2. Essential Oils
Most essential oils are calming and could possibly have the reverse effect of staying awake. The secret to using essential oils to staying awake is finding that one oil that has a slight tinge of irritation. While this may sound messed up, this slight irritation will trigger your body to agitate your body.. Stick that in a diffuser. This will keep your mind and body from going to sleep by providing a tiny sense of discomfort. That discomfort will keep you awake. Also though, you will find a lot of energizing scents that may keep you awake too. Flip between the two options to see what works for you.
3. Dance to Your Jam
One of the fastest ways to get out the sleepiness is to play some music that you can dance to. Play it loud enough that you want to get up and dance. Dance it out until you feel energized enough to get back to what you were doing. The action of dancing wakes up your body and gets blood pumping fast enough for you to get over the tiredness. Also, if you are in the car, turning up the music and letting your lungs rip, will also help you not sleep. But then again, safety first.
4. Caffeine It Up
While I don’t think drinking a lot of caffeine is good, it does help if you are in a place where you absolutely need to stay awake. Get some coffee or enough tea to help you get that second wind. Some people (AKA me), get sleepy right after drinking coffee. So make sure you know if caffeine has an impact on you before you attempt this option.
Related: Making Indian Chai at home
5. You Up?
Another way to get the sleepies out of your system is to talk to someone. If it’s late, you want to make sure you are not disturbing them. Maybe you have a friend in another country with a different time zone. Call them up and have a good long chat. That will help you stay focused enough to reset your body when you are off the call.
In Conclusion
While these may be tips to stay awake at night, understand that your body requires between 7 and 8 hours of sleep each night. This is as researched by the National Institute of Health which you can read about here. So make sure you are getting enough zzz’s first. And hopefully this need to stay awake late, is a special one-off scenario.
How many hours of sleep do you get at night?
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