Reducing Afternoon Fatigue Without Coffee

 Ever since I quit coffee, I've had some issues with afternoon fatigue. Around 2 I would just feel sleepy. I thought about this a little and concluded that lighting might be the issue. You see my office has standard craporific overhead lighting. Since most programmers have OCD or some other neurosis, they turn it off. I had a crappy desk lamp, but it wasn't very bright. So I splurged and bought a Verilux desk lamp.

I'm not going to pretend it's beautiful and it did cause some heckling from officemates, but I've been using it for two weeks and so far my energy levels are much better. Of course going outside would be even better, but it's been kind of crappy outside lately. 

It might help my mood, but this afternoon it failed to counteract the effects of listening to the new Radiohead album, which made me feel emo. 

I also got some nice blackout curtains. I had been using aluminum foil because I was being cheap, but it fell down and made creepy noises in the wind. I noticed that the price for the curtains had dropped on Amazon and I bought these. They are MUCH better than aluminum foil. 

I also noticed that the price for those light-alarm clocks had dropped and I bought the cheapest one, but I noticed it's gone now and I understand why. It's SO much better than my cell phone as an alarm, but my model is truly buggy.