If you're like many people, shortly after lunch your head begins buzzing, your concentration plummets, your eyes droop and the top of your desk begins to look as cozy as a feather mattress. There are many plausible theories for the midday dips: the morning surge of hormones has petered out; some degree of “brain tedium” – in other words, boredom – has set in. Or it may have something to do with what you ate; all meals divert blood from your brain to your gut but some foods also bump up levels of the soporific hormone serotonin.

Before and during lunch…

• Head outside and sit in the daylight for 10 minutes. Better still, have your lunch outside and divide your break between eating and a walk. Here's why: your office probably has about 500 luxes of light, which is equal to about 500 candles. That compares with 10,000 luxes at sunrise and 100,000 at noon on a July day. So when the afternoon doldrums hit, go outside and sit in the sunlight. It will help reset your chronological clock, keep down the amount of melatonin (the sleep hormone) your body produces during this circadian dip and give you a valuable boost of beneficial vitamin D, reducing your risk of osteoporosis as well as various cancers.

• Snack all day long. Simply snack on nutritious foods whenever you get hungry, rather than eating lunch per se – but watch portion sizes. Then use your lunch break for some kind of exercise, whether it's in the company gym or walking around a park.

• Choose activating protein not energy-sapping carbs. So a tuna salad without the bread is a better choice than a tuna sandwich. A green salad sprinkled with low-fat cheese, a hard-boiled egg and some sliced turkey wins over a pasta salad. The change can really make a difference. When researchers compared men who ate a 1,000 calorie lunch with those who ate a 300 calorie lunch or skipped the meal altogether, they found that when given a chance to nap after lunch, nearly all of the participants did so. But while the lunch-eaters slept for an average of 90 minutes, those who skipped lunch slept for only 30 minutes. These were also high-carbohydrate lunches (carbs stimulate serotonin release, which increases sleepiness), which may have contributed to the napping. You shouldn't skip lunch altogether, but the combination of eating less and eating fewer carbohydrates should lead to less sleepiness.

After lunch…

• Enjoy teatime. Get into the routine of a midafternoon cup. It's a good step towards beating the afternoon doldrums thanks to that little bit of a caffeine burst and the few quiet minutes it entails. The aim is not to munch down scones and clotted cream, but you can do better than a tea bag dunked in your unwashed coffee mug. Keep a selection of exotic flavoured teas (preferably caffeinated) in your office and an aesthetically pleasing cup just for tea. When the doldrums hit, brew yourself a cup and sit somewhere quiet (not your office) to sip and reflect. The meditative time will soothe your frenzied brain, while the caffeine will give you just enough of a kick-start to get you through the rest of your day.

• Make an "I was thinking of you" phone call. To your wife, child, siblings, parents, a friend or a retired colleague. A 5 minute keep-in-touch call will lift your spirits for hours and reinvigorate you to get your work done.

• Go for a 10 minute walk and resist that chocolate bar. When American researchers compared study participants who ate a chocolate bar or who walked briskly for 10 minutes, they found the chocolate bar subjects felt more tense in the hour afterwards, while those who walked not only had higher energy levels for 1 to 2 hours afterwards, but also reduced their tension.

• Put a drop of peppermint oil in your hand and briskly rub your hands together, then rub them over your face (avoid your eyes). Peppermint is a known energy-enhancing scent.

• Do your filing. It's a physical activity that gets you up from your desk, bending and pulling and stretching. Plus, you can lose yourself in it, and any activity that enables you to get into a "flow" will help to pull you through the doldrums.

• Take 10 minutes for isometric exercises. Isometric exercises involve nothing more than tensing a muscle and holding it. For instance, with your arm held out, tense your biceps and triceps at the same time and hold for 5 to 10 seconds. You can do this with your calf muscles, thigh muscles (front and back), chest, abdomen, buttocks, shoulders and back. If you wanted to, you could work a rotation, or cycle, of isometric exercises involving almost your entire body into your desk job every day. The total workout would be quite significant, despite never interrupting your work or causing you to break into a sweat. Plus, you're not only toning your body, you're toning your mind.

All day long…

• Weave variety into your working day. Tedium taxes the mind and induces somnolence. Most studies suggest that concentration on anything wanes after an hour, and is pretty near to pitiful at 90 minutes. So divide your tasks to maximize a balance between variety and productivity. For instance, if you have a large report you need to get out, work on it for 30 minutes, switch to something else for 30 minutes, then return to it.

10 Good Reasons Why Canadians Are Going Organic!

1. Keep chemicals off your plate — Most herbicides and many insecticides have been found to be carcinogenic or hormone replicators. Organic certification is the public’s assurance that products have been grown and handled according to strict procedures and without persistent toxic chemical inputs.


2. Organic food tastes great! — It’s common sense - well-balanced soils produce strong, healthy plants that become nourishing food for people and animals. Many chefs choose organic foods because of superior quality and flavour.


3. Organic farms respect our water resources — The elimination of polluting chemicals and nitrogen leaching, done in combination with soil building, protects and conserves water resources.


4. Organic farmers build healthy soil — Soil is the foundation of the food chain. The primary focus of organic farming is to use sustainable practices that build healthy soil microbiology and prevent erosion, creating a legacy of safe, fertile land that can provide for future generations.


5. Organic farmers work in harmony with nature —Organic agricultural respects the balance demanded of a healthy ecosystem, studies have shown there is more bio-diversity around organic farms. The number of species increased about 30% in organic systems and the number of individual plants and animals was 50% greater on organic farms. Diverse wildlife is encouraged by including forage crops in rotation and by retaining hedgerows, wetlands, and other natural areas.


6. Organic methods reduce pollution and wasted energy — More energy is used to produce synthetic fertilizers than to cultivate and harvest crops. Organic farmers have led the way, largely at their own expense, with innovative on-farm research aimed at minimizing agriculture’s impact on the environment. Canadian studies have shown that organic farming practices can use as little as half the energy of other farming methods, and are not dependent on fossil-fuel fertilizers.


7. Protect the health of farmers and children — Farmers exposed to herbicides have six more times the risk of contracting cancer compared to non-farmers. The average child receives four times more exposure than an adult to pesticides in food.


8. Organic producers strive to preserve diversity — The loss of a large variety of species (biodiversity) is one of the most pressing environmental concerns. The good news is that many organic farmers and gardeners have been collecting and preserving seeds, and growing unusual varieties for decades.


9. Support a true economy — Conventional food pricing encourages chemical farming, but hidden costs include subsidies and environmental damage. Most organic farms are small, independent family operations of less than 100 acres. Keep rural communities healthy, help small and local organic farmers.


10. Because you can! — Organic products are finally abundant - every food category has an organic alternative, and there are more and more organic textiles, personal care products and non-food items available every day. Let's keep this growing, because it's good for all of us!