Whenever I attend meetings at my workplace, I end up drifting in and out of snoozing. This happens when someone is presenting something to a group of people, no matter the subject. I like applied math and you might think that meetings where we discuss our job (statistics) are OK for me, but they're not. I found out that if I'm not directly involved in the discussion (if there is any), my brain just switches off even if I'm genuinely interested in the topic. I'm not tired and I get enough sleep, I'm perfectly fine for the rest of the day. I am getting physical activity in general (2-3 times a week Taekwon-Do), so it's not lack of activity as well.

What I think is that it's a lack of immediate physical activity, because if I stand up and walk around, I instantly feel fresh again. This is supported by how I used to learn poems in school - while walking back and forth non-stop. By the way, I was just like that in lessons - I either slept in the lessons or was hyper active. I need to talk to people or work on something if someone wants me to sit motionless for an hour or even two.

So what should I do? I tried pinching myself (very hard), twisting my wrist under the table, holding my breath for over 2 minutes to elevate my heart rate. The last measure seems to be a little bit effective, but it takes a huge amount of mental effort to keep doing it for over an hour. I also tried sugar and coffee. Redbull/coffee don't have much effect on me, unless I drink shedloads.

Any advice?

I wish I could help, but the only thing I can suggest is to get involved. Maybe not literally, but if you think about how whatever the topic in discussion effects you you should be able to stay awake. And if you say that "but it doesn't effect me" then I don't have time for the likes of you.

Idea: Develop a smart phone app that requires touching the top and bottom of its screen continually in alternating sequence. Program it to vibrate or something when your rate of alternation starts going out of whack. Then just work it underneath the table or in your pocket or something at your meetings.

I have the same sort of problems. Slept through high school, and even now where I'm paying for the damn classes I end up sleeping. The only real trick I know to staying awake is complete concentration. The only problem with that is if I haven't fully dedicated myself to staying awake the entire lecture, or if I don't feel the lecture is important enough, the concentration required to stay awake just isn't there. If you can find for yourself a compelling reason to concentrate you'll be able to stay awake. Sometimes I wager against myself in my mind, which usually works as motivation, but I don't know if that would work for everyone.

In regards to holding your breath, anything that elevates your heart rate can be helpful. I know that when I start to feel the effects of being drowsy in class I have only a short period of time to interrupt them until I actually fall asleep, and I use the same sorts of tricks, though instead of holding my breath I forcefully hyperventilate, and it usually fights off the sleepy feeling as my body gets the "WTF" message from my brain/lungs/w/e.

After I started my job, for the first few months I always got really really tired around 1-2pm. It was pretty embarrassing when peer-programming, as I'd be practically falling asleep while the other guy was trying to talk to me. I can't recall (this was almost 5 years ago) doing anything specific to resolve it, except maybe getting a better sleep cycle and less stress in general.

Since then, I haven't really had too much problems staying awake in meetings or anywhere else. Occasionally my mind starts wandering and I completely lose focus on what they're talking about, but normally I can catch myself doing it, and stop.

Are you eating a good-sized breakfast and lunch?

One thing you might be able to do, is lean back and rock in your chair. I almost always do this during meetings, but at my work no one has a problem with it (and I'm not really obvious swinging backwards and forwards like a rocking chair or anything). Recently I haven't even been lifting the chair legs off the ground much, just propping them up on the edge of my shoe. Anyway, doing this may be a way to 'keep active' and your mind focussed on some sort of movement activity - making sure you keep your balance.

Also, depending on the type of meeting, you could possibly suggest 'stand-up' meetings to your manager/whoever. This could be especially worth doing if you are having lots of 30-45 minute meetings that don't seem to achieve much because people dick around and waste time, or the meeting doesn't have any clear agenda or purpose to begin with. The idea behind stand-up meetings is that you normally cap them to 15-20 minutes, and obviously there is no sitting down! You can do it in a meeting room, at a whiteboard, or just in a common area if it's not an important/formal meeting. Stand-up meetings are designed to make people feel less comfortable than if they were sitting down, and therefore more likely to keep on topic and not waste time. I don't know whether this is applicable for your situation at all, but if it is, you could win some kudos if you suggest it to your manager as a way of being more productive.

Similar to above, you could explain the problem you're having to your manager and you might be able to work out some solution together - like longer meetings could have a 5-10 minute break in the middle for people to stretch their legs, get a coffee etc - other people might be in favour of that too. Really depends on your workplace culture and if you can talk to your manager about things like that, and realistically you should be able to otherwise you have a crap manager.

Also this thread should probably be in Lite Discussion.

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Nov 19 2010, 12:54 am by Lanthanide.

Don't wry. I do this all the time...

But note that.. if I really do want to stay awake. I normally just have some coffee.... which will keep me awake even if the presenter's stuff is totally beyond me or totally not my field of research...

But if you tried coffee AND red bull and STILL fall asleep.. maybe u should start cutting ur amount of caffeine lols

Oh, actually that'd be a good idea to tell your boss that you want to get involved. He'll either laugh at you, or else try to get you involved, and if its the latter it'll look better on you.

I do this while driving. I usually pull over and walk around for a bit/get a drink.

never underestimate the power of a beverage, both while you're drinking it, and after you drank it.

It's a pretty poor way to do it, but if you take notes on everything, you'll pay attention better. Hour long presentations with nothing worthwhile shouldn't happen.

Vrael: hyperventilating won't cut it because everyone will hear me breathe and go like "wtf?!"

Lanthanide: I'll try out the chair balance thing, seems to be worthwile.

I was in another meeting today with a very energetic speaker but an insanaly boring topic. I was almost perfectly fresh for the whole hour. In retrospect, I now realise that maybe it's the human interaction (or lack of it). It would make sense, because most of the people I have to listen to, as smart as they are and as interesting the topics they present may be, most of them are math geeks. So even though everyone in likes the topic, there is no energy floating about in the room.

rockz: I'll try taking notes, even though I really don't like it.

If these things don't help, I might have to speak to my boss. He's a very understanding and chilled guy.

Sounds like you've got a good plan then. Good luck!

A managers job (at least where I work) is to remove all impediments to someone performing their job. I'm a software engineer, so if this means your computer is too slow, you need new software, you need more training on how to use a tool, your chair is uncomfortable, the air conditioning is too cold, you need emergency time-off to deal with a family problem etc, all of this is up to your manager to resolve as best as possible. Failing to stay awake at meetings would also fit under here, and although it can be seen as sort of a personal failing, as long as you're not a slacker and are someone that the company would like to continue employing, you shouldn't have any problem raising that sort of issue either. But every individual has their own foibles, strengths and weaknesses, so you shouldn't feel bad that you have this particular one. And it's seriously not as bad as other, completely dysfunctional or plain useless people you can get in jobs.

Yeah I have the same exact thing. No matter how much or how little sleep I get, I will always find myself dozing off in the classes I'm not interested in. No matter what I try, I just can't keep myself awake. Wagering in my head, realizing that me sitting in this room cost over $50 a class period, trying to sit different ways, and even knowing that I'm going to have to be tested on it the next day.

Regardless, I can't stay up and this issue has negatively affected my grades...

You could do what I always do, play Shining Force on my iPod all day. But I don't know if that's more productive than sleeping to be honest.

To inform people and hopefully help someone with similar problems: Keeping balance on my chair worked miracles! I had an hour-long meeting about advanced quantitative decision making, and whenever I felt that I'm drifting off, I'd pull my chair back and balance it until I felt that my concentration is restored, which usually took under a minute.

Thanks guys!

I don't understand the trick with the chair.

You lean back so the chair balances on its two back legs and you keep stable either by holding on to a table or by putting your feet on the floor.

Hey that's cool. Hard to believe, but SEN can be helpful for rl problems at times.

Well, I drink a lot of water.

Drinking water makes you want to go to the bathroom, which keeps you away.
Works for me every time.