We’ve all been there. A couple of co-workers invite you over for a couple of drinks after work, and the next thing you know, you’re out on a full-blown Tampa nightlife, you’re at some dive bar at 2 in the morning, and you’re hit with the sobering realization that you have to be at work in 6 hours, and you have no idea where you are.
The worst part is getting up the next morning, making the effort to come into work, and trying to function as a normal human being. It makes you curse 24 hours ago you, and all of the wrong decisions that you’ve made leading up to this point.
Of course, logically, if you’re looking for advice on how to survive the whole ordeal, the best piece of advice to follow is to just not go for “a couple after work”.
But if mistakes have already been made, the best thing to do is to learn how to handle it the next time it happens. Here are some tips that will help guarantee that you survive to work the next day after a Tampa nightlife out.
As much as possible, avoid the hangover
Your hangover will be your worst enemy the next day when you show up at work, so as early as the night before, make sure that you take the necessary steps to avoid this. Stay hydrated, and drink plenty of water.
Even if you feel like it’s too much, drink a full glass of water for every shot of alcohol or drink that you drink. Drink water before you go to sleep, and after you wake up, and continue to stay hydrated even at work. At this point, water is your long-lost twin, and you’re never letting go.
Sleep is your friend
Try to get as much sleep as you can muster even after night out. If you can come in a little late the next day because you have flexible hours, then take full advantage of that and sleep in a little.
Set your alarm for the absolute last minute that you have to wake up instead of setting it early and snoozing it as we are all wont to do. Work is your best chance of being halfway functional at work the next day, so try to get as much of it as you can.
Tackle the hard stuff first
At work, try to tackle all of the hard tasks first at the beginning of the day, despite every instinct in your mind screaming at you not to do any hard thinking.
Handling the hard tasks at the beginning of the day while you’re still partially functional guarantees that you get the hard stuff out of the way instead of leaving it for 24 hours into the future you to deal with. Remember how well that turned out last time?