Photo of the Week: Afternoon coffee. I am generally a morning person (after much training). I used to be a night person. I have never liked afternoons, when I feel a little tired or drained. My energy level is high in the morning, low in the afternoon, and comes up a bit in the evening until time for sleeping.

Today started out good, but I gradually became more anxious and felt kind of down. I felt like my energy level was spiraling. I could not think of a way to salvage the day.

Until I remembered afternoon coffee.

This is not a push for caffeine. Rather, it is a push for re-calibration. To adjust; to start over. I took a nap and drank an afternoon coffee. I created a new morning. My energy level came back up and my anxiety faded. When I cannot take a nap (which is, admittedly, luxurious), I have still had an afternoon coffee or tea and created some type of break. Maybe just leaving my desk and gazing out a window. This has been enough to simulate a second morning.

How did this work?

I think the reason this can be effective is more mental than physical. I interrupted the path of the day. I had been feeling stuck in the “I shoulds.” So, I created a break which caused a perspective shift.

If you are an evening person, maybe you like the coziness of low lights, for example, you could create a break and simulate a new evening. You could do something that you normally do in the evening, or you could do something to create the evening atmosphere.

Today, I am having two mornings and an evening. I am mentally skipping afternoon. How have you re-calibrated when you have had a day that was not going well?