Tips for when you had a rough night's sleep

We had a small party on Friday at the editorial office, my boyfriend was away for the weekend and that resulted in the longest sleep-in time I had during my entire cohabitation period. Sunday morning was a repeat of the same, because it was also half past ten before I shuffled towards my fresh coffee. But last night? I slept worse than ever.

A few pages into the new Jo Nesbø and I was dozing off. The signal to turn off my little lamp, to make sure my boyfriend's phone (who was sleeping) ended up safe and sound on the nightstand and to close the shutters myself. You guessed it: awake, but the clearest kind of awake. Now I don't really believe that a full moon affects your sleep, but I just googled whether it was full. And yes, at 10:31 today, to be precise. Whether you should be affected the night before or after, I don't know. As I said: normally I don't believe this, but today just a bit more.

It was tossing, turning, turning again, breathing, applying mosquito spray, on my back, on my stomach, on the edge of the bed, trying to wake my boyfriend: the whole shebang. The situation is as follows: groggy with a head full of cotton. To ensure that you and I can get through the day in one piece after a bad night's sleep, there are tips, tricks, and supernatural powers. Here they come.

1. Take a cold shower

Okay, I'm unsure if I'm going to put my own tip into practice, but it seems that you should set it to cold for thirty seconds after your shower routine and then thirty seconds on warm to wake up as much as possible.

2. Watch your food

Have breakfast within an hour after you wake up, if you (like me) did manage to fall asleep in the morning. You need to get your body going.

3. See the light

Open the curtains as soon as you get up. Natural light sends all kinds of signals that you need to be awake and stay awake.

4. Take a break

The best thing is to lay your head on your desk and take a nap. Your boss might not react very well to this, so you still have the ten-minute meditation. In the bathroom, after lunch, or on your way to work: take ten minutes to rest.

5. I like to move it move it

But also move. The best thing is to exercise in the morning. Didn't do it. That's why you're going to take a twenty-minute walk during lunch. It refreshes the mind.

6. Take it easy with the coffee

Okay, I just downed two cups of strong coffee, but from now on it's mañana. Coffee can work against you because the kickstart turns into relaxation. And if there's one thing we can't handle today...

7. Do difficult and not difficult

Make sure to tackle the difficult tasks of the day in the morning and save the lighter work for when you start to fade.