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14 Oct 09 Stay Awake Through Boring Meetings

Being tired in a meeting that seems senseless can be bad.  Your tiredness could lead to you missing some vital info, missing out on an opportunity to stand out, or even falling asleep.  There probably isn’t any worse impression you can leave on somebody’s mind, beyond falling asleep.  So tiredness is severely bad, and could do damage to your career.  Which is why these tips will help you stay fresh, awake, and ready to contribute to any meeting:

-Make sure you get enough oxygen.  Typically when you are ready to go to sleep at night your body slows down the breathing process.  Because you’re not doing any activity you take fewer, deeper breaths, which helps to lull you to sleep.  If you’re feeling tired make sure to keep your breathing up, oxygenating your muscles and helping them feel awake.  A few quick deep breaths should do the trick.

-If the meeting is one of those you have to be there, but nothing really important happens affairs, the task of staying awake can be especially daunting.  Try taking pen and paper and make a list of something you have to do later.  Or make a list of things you’d like to do this week, or after work.  Anything to get your brain thinking.  Plus those around you will just see that you’re taking notes on the meeting, so you look informed and you stay awake.

-Bring a bottle of water with you, and if you’re feeling tired take a few sips.  Or even chew some gum quietly.  Anything to get your body moving and using energy.  Both of which will help to keep you awake.

-Finally, if you just can’t keep yourself going, then at an appropriate moment excuse yourself.  Excusing yourself is a much better solution than risking falling asleep.  The ultimate goal here is to not look slack enough to fall asleep at work, and excusing yourself accomplishes that, even if you anger a few folks in the process.

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