Sometimes enjoyment brings punishment along. The best example of such an experience is a boozing party with friends until midnight and when it’s time to wake up for office you find yourself in a hangover condition.
The enjoyment you had the last night becomes a punishment for you as you have to attend office in such a condition. The entire day right from 10-5 in the evening you have to be alert with your assignments one after the other. The night before, as you punished your body by drinking heavily; now it’s the body who will take revenge on you.
What is Hangover?
The resulted signs and symptoms of heavy drinking is called a hangover. One who is having a hangover will be down and surely have some hangover symptoms like headache, dizziness, bloodshot eyes, anxiety. He/she may also feel sick, sleepy, puzzled, doing things aimlessly.
Hangovers occur at any time of the day mostly during the morning after the party night. It lasts for a long time. Though it has no such miraculous cure for hangover or solution it can be somehow managed with some tactics if you are to go to the office where you might be having work pressure and supervision of your boss.
What Causes Hangover?
Too much consumption of alcohol leads to hangover which is usually a cumulative result of a number of symptoms of a hangover and factors such as:
1. Increased urination:
Alcohol consumption enhances the formation of urine in our body and passing out of which decreases the water holding capacity of our body thus leading to dehydration. This dehydration, in turn, makes you feel thirsty as well.
2. Irritation in the stomach:
With the consumption of alcohol, the formation of stomach acids are also raised which gives a sense of irritation in the stomach leading to stomach ache, heartburn and headache as well. Nausea happens due to the slowdown of the stomach function causing to vomit.
3. Blood sugar drops:
Alcohol when consumed it lowers the blood sugar level in many thus making them dizzy, moody, tired and generally weak. Blood vessels also get dilated with the alcohol consumption which is a common cause of a hangover headache.
4. Bad sleep quality:
Though alcohol consumption is known to sleep, still it is proved that after being drunk the sleep quality gets degraded. The deep sleep does not happen when you are drunk, you wake up several times in between which leaves you tired the next morning. The lack of full complete rest that your body deserves lacks when you are drunk and thus you are left with a state of hangover.
How to Survive or Handle or Deal With Hangover at Work:
The office is such a place where you are bound with your duties and it would be very silly to go for a leave from your duties just because you are having a hangover. It is better to have some quick management with self and get decked up for your office. Here are some easy tips which you could follow in getting rid of a hangover to get ready for your office.
1. Prepare before you drink:
When you are aware that you will have a boozing party with friends, it’s smart to be prepared for it as you know you would also have to attend office the next day. Try to drink a lot of water. Even while you are drinking, drink one glass of water after each glass of drink. This practice will keep you hydrated.
If you are about to drink a lot, try to consume a heavy meal full of starch beforehand. Food like hamburgers, french fries cooked in heavy oil tends to absorb the alcohol leaving you less drunk.
2. Drink lots of fluids and juices:
Now when you have got that hangover with the thirsty throat, banging headache, puzzled eyesight, it’s just because you are dehydrated. You have to drink excessive fluids now to make your body balanced.
Juices like cranberry and orange are good supports at this phase. The key idea is to balance the loss of your body with plenty of vitamins. You could also try vegetable juices in case of dealing with a hangover.
3. Though you don’t feel like, still have some breakfast:
Though you would not feel like having anything with a splitting headache, still it’s wiser to have a protein packed breakfast like an egg, some good toast before you leave for your office because it could help you with managing your hangover at work.
Even if you are not in a mood to have solids go for some fruits which are very good at flashing out the alcohol from your body thus leaving you free from hangover fast.
4. Ibuprofen to help in tackling headache:
The most highlighted feature of a bad hangover is a sticky headache that tends to not leave easily. It would be a wise decision to chuck it off with a few ibuprofens and a lot of water with it.
Do not forget to pack up your stomach with some food prior to having the pills. When you are free from your headache you will notice to regain some energy and concentrate on other tricks to get rid of the other worst hangover symptoms.
5. Don’t sleep hungry:
If you wake up both hungry and hung-over, it’s worse that your nauseated state would prevail longer. So never go to sleep just after drinking without having any food. It’s advised to have some greasy items in your food so that the alcohol is easily absorbed leaving you in a more free state of mind and body.
6. Caffeine can be a good friend:
A sip of a cup of coffee can keep your eyes open while you are going through a hangover at work. If you can really maintain a balanced level of caffeine the day through, it would be beneficial in keeping you awake and put off your dizziness. It is a good and effective hangover cure.
7. Eat plenty of fruits:
A platter of fruits can help you flash out the alcohol still remaining in your body. Fruits are suppliers of natural sugars that can supplement you with a good lot of energy to carry out the day’s work at the office. This could be the best way to get rid of a hangover.
8. Get a nap break:
When everything else fails to bring you back to the normal you, it’s time for the break to play its role. Take a small break from your work and lock yourself up in the washroom for some time and get refreshed with a nap. This would be the best ever option as washroom is the only place where your boss cannot reach you nor anybody else question you about where you have been for the time.
9. Walk for a while:
If the hangover still persists take a walk in the lounge for a while. If you get to manage a little spare time from your breaks or lunch time it is wise to have a walk in the fresh air as inhaling of fresh air can really clean up your mind and give you a refreshed feeling in case you are feeling suffocating out of the hangover.
10. Get most of your work done the day before:
When you know that there would be a party that night it’s advisable to get most of your pending works at office done or tactically pass it on to a trainee. If it’s possible try to draft your emails possibly to go out on that day with easy structures. Try to reschedule face to face meetings on other dates. These small steps could help you form a protective shield the other day.
11. Take a leave:
If you feel really down with the worst hangover, it’s wiser to go for a leave at the office on a medical note. No office or labour law can force you to work under a medical condition. It is better to take a leave than to go to the office with a hangover and mess up everything at your workplace leaving you in an embarrassing situation. Get a lot of rest that day at your home only and the next day at office.
How to Avoid Looking Hung Over at Work:
If it really becomes a must for you to attend the office the next day, here are some small tips that you may follow to avoid yourself from looking as you are having a hangover at work.
1. Get a good shower:
Being fresh is the best start for a day next to a night party. Get yourself into a long shower with cool water. As because the smell of alcohol doesn’t leave that easily so it is a wise decision to take a deep shower with more attention in cleaning up than other days which could make you free of the odour. You may also feel like vomiting, it’s nothing good than doing so, as it would easily flash off the unabsorbed alcohol in a single go thus leaving you free and fresh.
2. Get groomed well:
A good grooming is obvious to make you look fresh and you could easily avoid looking shabby when you are in a state of hangover. So try to dress yourself with the best of your outfits for office. Put on clothes that are pressed and soothing to eyes, as jerky clothes may induce gossip in the office thus digging out the cause of being so.
3. Manage to get some sleep the night before:
If you are having an office the next day, manage to get back to home from the party a bit early so that you may have at least some amount of rest. This would prevent you from looking tired the next morning with burning eyes dying to sleep.
4. Check your eyes:
Taking a deep shower or dressing up to the perfect is not going to protect your bloodshot eyes from telling the entire story. So, concentrating on making up those eyes would be a wise decision before you head towards your office.
Eyes speak out everything, even if you have managed all other signs of hangover it is the eye that could get you down. So using an eye drop could help you get over this sort of problem. For girls a detailed eye makeup and for boys, a cucumber or damp tea bags can be helpful in fixing the swollen and sunken eyes.
5. Check your breath and brush properly:
It is very difficult to confirm your own breath. Alcohol has a bad tendency to remain clinging to breath. You should be very sure that you are not stinging alcohol. Brush your teeth for a long time with strong minty toothpaste and also don’t forget to rinse your mouth with a good mouth freshener.
It would be also helpful to get rid of the alcoholic breath if you can chew mint gums throughout the day avoiding such times when you are in a meeting or speaking to your superiors. An alcoholic breath is one of the signs which you may not feel but can be very easily caught by others.
6. Comb your hair properly:
Untidy and tangled hair is an obvious sign of a tiresome schedule. So be sure to make your hair look tidy and in the proper place to avoid encouraging your co-workers to enter into a gossip about you and your last night. You may also keep a comb handy with you.
Whatever you do to avoid the worst symptoms of hangover, it is sure to happen after the night you are so heavily drunk. It would be a smart step if you restrict yourself from getting drunk so bad just the night before you are to go to office. The worse part happens if you are found with hangover at work very often.
If your boss is a very strict person, you may go the extent of losing your job as he would never compromise with the quality of production from a person on whom he is investing his money. It is better you should refrain yourself from facing such a painful situation at your workplace.
