Alcohol

While alcohol can be great for helping you relax, it can also have the effect of making you feel tired — both in the long-term and the short-term. Alcohol depresses the central nervous system and acts as a sedative — so those couple of ‘harmless’ drinks at lunchtime may have the effect of sending you off to sleep come mid-afternoon! Alcohol can also adversely affect your sleep patterns, particularly if you drink just before bed. If you do drink before bed, then while you might crash out initially, your sleep pattern will be disturbed — and not just by fact that you’ll probably need to relieve yourself in the middle of the night! Also, on the following day, you may have to suffer both the effects of a hangover and the associated tiredness.