Why am I unable to stay awake at work in the afternoon?

 

“Morning people” are often up and fully alert at 4 or 5am, but begin to shut down in the early afternoon. FILE  Fotosearch

By Dr Frank Njenga

I have a problem with working effectively as the day progresses. I’m quite productive early in the morning, but my usefulness in office takes a nose dive in the second half of the day and my bosses have noticed this. Is this psychology and how can I get off it?

----------------------------------
A few weeks ago while attending a medical conference in Kampala, I noticed that a number of delegates sitting in the front row were all fast asleep.

The speaker, an eminent man of science, later complained to me that the Americans were rude, and had come to Africa not for the conference but to enjoy the wild animals.

I later spoke to the “sleepy” Americans. They were unaware of the embarrassment they had caused. After dinner, when all the Africans wanted to retire to bed, the Americans were fully awake and were looking for “some action”.

They went out and later reported they had a good night out.

At breakfast, a discussion on the circadian rhythm ensured, and the man of science understood and forgave the deeply apologetic visitors.

So, what is this that made the visitors appear rude, and more specifically, what is this complicated circadian rhythm?

The word circadian comes from two Latin words for round or circle, and day. Combined we get one word for the cycle of the day. The term describes physical, mental and behaviour changes that follow a 24-hour biological clock.

This so called clock has been traced to a group of cells deep in the brain and they work much like a conductor of an orchestra, instructing the body when to do certain things.

At 2am for example, the clock tells the body to be fast asleep, and at 6am the body is told to rapidly increase the blood pressure, and soon after to wake up. For many people, bowel movements then take place.

By mid-morning and the early part of the afternoon, maximum alertness is to be observed followed, as in your case, by the gradual onset of tiredness. By 9 pm, melatonin release begins and a while later it is time to sleep and start the cycle all over again. This is the short version of a complex story.

The visitors in Kampala were suffering from jet lag. Their bodies were in Kampala, but the tiny brain cells were conducting the orchestra oblivious of the geographical location of the Americans.

The bodies of the Americans were being told it was 2am while in Kampala it was 11 am. Meanwhile the scientist was busy with the lecture.

In a sense, the Americans were obeying the instructions from their bodies. After dinner that night, the clock told them to wake up and get some action. At 9pm their bodies were at peak performance.

This observation is part explanation of your predicament and sets the stage for the description of the fact that the human body is complex, and one of those complexities is to be found in the sleep/wake cycle.