The apparent contradiction in the title of this post is noted!
When writing this blog, it is expected that the highest temperature ever recorded in the UK will be broken this week. Which is fine if you are recumbent in a hammock slung between palm trees, sipping your favourite drink and taking the occasional dip in the ocean to cool down. But what if you are glued to your office chair and feeling the heat?
The national press is full of strategies to “beat the heat”. We have paraphrased a few and added a couple of our own. It is assumed that you do not have air conditioning, if you do, make the most of it, for the rest of us our suggestions are:
- Eat little and often, too much fuel in the system generates internal heat.
- Run your wrists under cold water periodically, this is said to cool the blood.
- Wear cotton fabrics. Synthetics trap heat and make you feel hot and sticky. Cotton absorbs perspiration and this will give you the sensation that you feel cooler.
- Avoid caffeinated drinks and alcohol. The caffeine will increase your metabolic heat and the alcohol will make you dehydrated.
- Office fans can be noisy, and even those that rotate never seem to direct air in one direction long enough to have a cooling effect. Try a small, low-cost desk version that runs off your PC USB port and sends just enough air across your body to provide relief from the heat.
- If you have to exercise, do it before 7am or after the sun sets.
- Rejig your working hours, if this is permissible, rise at 5am. This should allow for an early commute, finish at say 2pm, creating time for R & R during the hottest part of the day.
And if all your efforts to stay cool and comfortable fail, give in, buy a portable aircon unit.
Take care during the heatwave!
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