The Rise and Fall of the Hapontukin » 7 ½ Tips on How to Avoid Snoozing on the Job

One rainy afternoon, I finally decided to finish the report my boss was asking a few months ago. I started typing, then suddenly stopped, and gave a big powerful tornado-forming yawn. Then I find myself staring at the cursor like a snake in trance. I didn’t move while the vertical cursor blinked a million times. I suspect Microsof Word is doing something evil to me – the cursor was hypnotizing me. The cool air-con breeze touched my skin. I blinked and then blinked again. The blinking becomes slow and slower and slower like that slow motion scene in the movies. I felt my eyelids turned into leather with my eyes as heavy as bowling balls.

The computer monitor is calling me, whispering “Come inside, they are waiting for you…come my child..forget the report…come..”

The Fight with the Cursor

I can’t help it, my head was slowly leaning forward - slowly slowly. I’m fighting it and managed to sit up straight, but then it happened again. This time the cursor was blinking faster and the monitor was eerily glowing, magnetizing my head. Again, my head slowly lean forward to the monitor, I fight it again but the fight lasted only for a minute. The cursor won. I closed my eyes, and collapsed into the keyboard, ready for a short journey to eternity.

I felt a hand touching my shoulder pulling me back to reality. Like a startled wide-eyed tarsier, I came back to reality. At my back is the most terrifying warlord I ever known – the person I call Boss.

“What are you doing? Where is the report?” the towering Mr. Boss growled.

I checked the computer monitor and I magically saw that I already produced 5,6987 pages. But it was filled with unintelligible characters like Russian codes or an Egyptian ancient curse, because my head hits the @!$%*&))==_  keyboard keys.  

The Attack of the Absent-minded Hapontukin

Lost for words I thought of saying, “Oh, hi Boss, I was trying to pick up my contact lens without my hands."

But I saw my left hand holding my eyeglasses, so I just continue staring. Mr. Boss saw what’s on the screen and took a very deep breath, gathering all his magical powers to blow me into pieces. My mind rummaged for some magical spell to counter my impending doom.

While my off-white phlegmatic saliva was still slowly falling down the side of my mouth, I thought I whispered “Boss, I was testing the keyboard for drool resistance."

Mr. Boss just gave a deep-frustrated sigh and left.

I succeeded in sending the warlord away, but I know deep down in my pitiful slave heart that the battle has just began.

Are you a Hapontukin Too?

I am a certified Hapontukin (palaging inaantok tuwing hapon) or always sleepy in the afternoon. It’s a condition where you don’t have enough energy to last you through the day. Maybe you are also experiencing it once in a while.

The most obvious reason for afternoon drowsiness is lack of sleep, which can have a variety of causes. In my case, it is because of too much Facebooking or late night blogging or a mild hang-over. I know that’s bad for health, so I’m trying to limit those activities in the evening. However, sometimes we really need to stay awake late at night to finish some important stuff, which causes a terrible Hapontukin moment the following day. 

In the corporate world, we always have Mr. Boss who always have their noses smoking with rage if they see a Hapontukin employee because, of course it’s a business and they didn’t want to pay the price of our on-the-job-snoozing in the form of lost productivity. Also, it will badly affect our performance evaluation, hence we have to do something to stay awake and finish our deliverable. We also know that sleeping on the job can be risky to the point that it can cost us our job.

Therefore, it is a must for us to do something to help us get a steady energy and avoid Hapontukin moments.

7 and ½ Tips on How to Avoid Snoozing on the Job

Here are my personal tips on how to beat Hapontukin Moments:

When hapontukin sets in, I take funny pictures with my co-worker, make a quick video clip, do some clean-up, engage in a quick chat – the spiderman style, and take a magic pill.

1. Grab your camera and take funny pictures – Pretend you need graphics for the company brochure, newsletter, company website or a powerpoint presentation and ask co-employees to take a pose for you. Of course lots of them will be more than willing to help you. Here are some of our samples.

Yodz babysitting an emo accountant

May the best girl win

Where have you been slave dwarf?

Arrrgg!!! I'm giving birth to a witch!

2.  Create your own version of  “Sadako Movie” or “The Matrix” - or whatever movie or painting you like. Be creative. A quick brainstorming about it will definitely make your hanpontukin moment go away. 

Where is Sadako?

The Matrix

3. Help the cleaning lady - A little courtesy help in sweeping the floor would not hurt your pride. If you can’t do it, at least clean up your cubicle. 

The Matrix superstar turned janitor

4. Quick chat “The Spiderman” style - Prefer quick chatting and gossiping face to face, do not do it via e- mail, phone, SMS or Yahoo Messenger when you can easily jump up to your co-workers. 

Hey buddy what's the new chismis?

5. Photocopy yourself – Well, yeah, you can do it once in while but I’m actually not recommending it. But it’s fun – give it a try. 

Can you please make 500 copies of me?

6. Create a quick video clip using your phone camera – Ask your co-workers (who are sleepy too) to join you in making a dance clip. Some caution: shoot it in a place where others will not be distracted, such as the elevator or in the office pantry.

Please watch our short video clip entitled “Ang mga pokpok na lumilipad, minamahal ni Yodz”

7½. Take a magic pill - Most of these previous tips are just temporary solutions to afternoon Hapontukin. Nothing beats regular exercise and a balanced, nutritious diet in keeping our body healthy and lively. Also, taking multivitamins has always provided us with essential vitamins we need to help maintain good health and energy. But not all vitamins are alike, what we need is a Multivitamins with special combination of vitamins called Steadi-Energy Complex which can provide us with lasting energy (tuluy-tuloy na energy) throughout the day. This steadi-energy is important most especially if there are so many things to do at work. By the way, that 1/2 is for extra energy.

If we treat our body properly, it will work like a well-oiled machine whether day, night, or afternoon. It may even help us in our early promotion.

I definitely agree with Enervon’s campaign “More Energy, Mas Happy.” In this stressful and fast-paced city life, I definitely need Multivitamins Enervon – of course because of its Steadi-Energy Complex vitamin combination. It’s truly a magic energy pill for me. 

Hapontukin bad,
Steady energy – Good!