Every four years, the whole world regardless of races, gender, age will come together for the FIFA World Cup. This year in 2018, the FIFA World Cup will be held in Russia.
As time difference between Malaysia and Russia (eastern side since all venues are focused there) is approximately 5 hours (it differs from cities as it has different timezone. The matches in the World Cup itself will be from 1700 to 2100 time frame (Russian time, timezone differs from cities throughout the country), which is equivalent to 2000 to 0200 (the next day) time frame (Malaysia time)
With most matches are at late night, all Malaysian football fans have no choice but to sacrifice their sleep for the quadannual event. So here I share the 5 most useful tips Malaysian can stay alert during World Cup season:
TIP 1 - Choose most exciting matches only (especially on working weekend)
This is the simplest rule to follow during World Cup season, choose only the most exciting matches to watch from the choices of 64 matches. It is almost impossible to watch all the matches especially in the first round which can severely disrupt your sleep, so plan ahead on which match to watch. It will not be a problem on the Friday night and weekends or during public holidays when you're not working, you can watch all the matches you want, but mind your sleep and health! For additional information, the Aidilfitri holidays (15/6 & 16/6 or extra depends on individual approved annual leave) falls during the World Cup season, so the holidays itself it up to you to decide the number to match to watch later.
TIP 2 - Food and bevearages to stay alert at work after watching a match.
After adhering the tip 1 above, when you're back at work, it goes without saying that you need to maintain alertness for productivity. Coffee is the best bevearages to maintain alertness as it contains caffeine, but drink it in moderate amount to avoid caffeine addiction. Other possible food or drinks to stay alert includes green tea, milo, chocolate, water, citrus fruits. All of these foods provides energy plus essential nutrients to help you stay up for the working day even after the long hour match.
TIP 3 - Brief exercise at work.
Another way to maintain alertness is do some light exercise before or during work. There is no need for vigorous exercise which may overstressing your body after less sleep from the World Cup matches. Do some minutes of stretching which not only relieve sore muscles and regain alertness. This rules can be applied as well after long hours at the computers, take some minutes out from the screen to do some stretching and eye exercise to reduce eye strain.
TIP 4 - Plan your sleep and nap early.
Once you had planned the matches to watch in advance, based on the time of the match you need to establish the sleeping pattern plus nap pattern before and after the match. Let say for example, the match you want to watch is at 10pm Malaysian time, that means after dinner you need to set aside sufficient sleeping time immediately after dinner, plus after watching the match until the time you need to wake up in the morning like this:
7:00pm Back from work
7:30pm Quick dinner
8:00pm Brief sleep
10:00pm Your favourite matches
0:00am Sleep
7:30am Prepare to work
Of course the changes in pattern differs from individual sleeping time and time of your favourite matches, but most importantly plan ahead so that the excitement of the game will not severely disrupt your sleeping pattern. Avoid any activities or food that can disrupt your planned sleep. Every minutes of rest, nap, or better still, sleep can be critical to maintain your alertness.
TIP 5 - Avoid alcohol and caffeine during match, replace it with nutritious meal if possible.
The last tip to share here is avoid alcohol and caffeine during any match. Alcohol should be avoided as it can disrupt our normal body function as the aftermath of alcohol consumption can take longer time to dissipate, which might disrupt your work alertness, it also goes without saying that excessive alcohol consumption bad for your health especially liver, plus excessive consumption is dangerous especially if the individual requires driving. Caffeine consumption such as coffee, Coca-Cola should be reduced as it can disrupt your planned sleep pattern as per tip 4 above, which ironically the ingredient is vital for your work time later. Another drinks to be reduced during match are sugary drinks which is bad for your body sugar level.
If possible, try substitute both alcohol and caffeine with food rich in carbohydrates, protein, or fruit juices. In Malaysia, it can be difficult to find food alternatives for alcohol, caffeinated drinks, or sugary drinks. Since most of the World Cup matches are at late night, the matches will mostly broadcasted at 24 hours nasi kandar store or nightclubs, which most of the food and drinks are unhealthy. But fret not, there are some good alternative here such as - fruit juice, roti canai (with egg, banana, or sardine) in small amount, roti bakar (for early breakfast especially if you're watching late the 0200 match). Try to reduce your food and drinks at smaller portion level so that it will not disrupt your digestion at late night and sleeping pattern.
So hopefully the 5 tips I shared earlier can be used to maintain your alertness and health while you're enjoying the favourite World Cup matches.
