Falling asleep in meetings

Do you have issues falling asleep in other situations? If you are well rested then this doesnt sound normal. Could it be possible that stress triggers a mild form of narcolepsy?

I would go see a sleep therapist or something similar because it will effect your job. Or otherwise if it bores you then should you consider a job that interests you more?

I worked with a guy who fell asleep once or twice in meetings. But then we knew by his activity in work chats that he was the kind of guy who didn't go to bed till 1am and got up to get the train to work at 6am. And he had two kids. So he was wrecked.

As others say, this sounds more like a medical issue. Dropping off because you've sat down and you're bored is not normal. Granted, it can be trained into you - army personnel across the world report being able to fall asleep anywhere, anytime, at the drop of a hat. Because they've been trained to. But I'll assume that's not you.

While you are waiting for something concrete to come out from a doctor, it would be worth inventing a reason why you need to stand in meetings. I've had to do it in the past for a sore back, and while people find it a little bit odd, if you stand away from the desk (like at the wall or something) they don't feel uncomfortable. Standing at the least might stop you from nodding off.

This has happened me before on occasion, though not in recent years. Asides from being embarrassing, it's also potentially something you could get into trouble at work over (or at least find your superiors having a stern word, particularly if clients are at the meeting) - so it needs addressed.

In my experience, I was going to bed too late and was simply tired. Once I adjusted my sleep patterns I was fine. If you're getting enough sleep but are still getting drowsy, you should speak to your Doctor to ensure there's no underlying medical condition like sleep apnea, etc.

In terms of what you can do in the short term, asides from the usual coffee suggestions I'd try the following :

- Stand up. It might sound strange but doing so immediately wakens most people up. I did it in a few meetings and stood at side of room, told them I had a sore back and needed to stretch occasionally. Even pretend you have to go to the toilet.
- Engage more - more talking and participation requires mental engagement, which usually snaps you out of drowsiness
- Fidget - I don't mean just drumming your fingers occasionally, but bring in a prop like a stress ball or similar. It helped me a lot.

Could you bring a bottle of cold water to the meetings with you to sip when you feel drowsy?

As others have said, worth a trip to the doctor but in the meantime I'd have a quiet word with your boss and tell them that for the time being you'd like to stand in meetings.

If I had all my way all meetings would be standing ones anyway. People are a lot more to the point when they're not sitting comfily.

How's the ventilation in the rooms where the meetings are held? Does the time of day that the meeting is held at make any difference?

DaeryssaOne wrote: »

I found for myself, I think it was almost exclusively down to diet - eating too many carbs was causing me to completely crash when I was just sitting there. I'm pretty sure smoking was also not helpful as my heartrate would decrease while I was sitting there after smoking right beforehand and that would cause me to drop off.

This is actually a good point I don't think anyone mentioned already.

The "3pm slump" and "11am slump" are things that marketing people made up. They're not normal.

They're a result of eating a lunch or breakfast which is too laden in simple sugars.
After eating these, your insulin spikes, which causes a sudden drop in blood sugar and feelings of lethargy, which can take a couple of hours to return to normal.

Naturally since most meetings are scheduled around these times, you might find a correlation there. It's worth looking at OP.

It's all well and good recommending that OP go to their GP but I've been waiting 3 years now for an appointment at a sleep clinic so that's not a quick solution.

I often find myself nodding off when I'm not mentally stimulated and that includes meetings and long tedious drives. It has proven dangerous during driving so now I just have to avoid long drives.

Luckily the job I'm in now involves very few meetings.

I think the standing up suggestion is a fantastic one, that will definitely work.

A good friend of mine kept falling asleep in college. Every class, without fail.

He went off and got medical treatment. He was diagnosed with sleep apnea.

He uses the machine at night and he's fine now.

Go get yourself tested.

Red bull is good for keeping people from falling asleep. I hate the stuff myself but i used it while driving long distance. It did the trick.