There are many occupations out that that require us to be on-call at certain times. I myself am one of those lucky people who get the joy of having to be available 24/7 for technical reasons. I am lucky enough to only have to be on-call about once a month for a full week, or Monday through Sunday. Another benefit of my on-call routine is that I am on-call for technical reason’s that can be solved and researched remotely, so I can do it from home, or wherever I am at the time, all I need is my laptop and an internet connection. Other professions such as doctors, firemen, police and government officials (to name a few) are also required to be on-call at different times throughout the year. Doctors on the one hand might have a tough time giving sound instruction remotely without seeing the patient (unless of course you are Greg House!), while others can simply answer the phone.

Anyhow, I have come up with a couple of things that can help us drag ourselves to duty when it calls, and keep us alert until we are free again. These items aren’t the only things that we can do, if you have other suggestions or things that you do to get you in the mood for work at odd hours, let’s hear them!

1. Drink caffiene – While this might not be the best option if your duties of being on-call are short and sweet, if once awake you must remain awake there is nothing like having some liquid energy at your fingertips.

2. Stimulate your brain – One of the things you can do to “brush off the cobwebs” is to warm up those synapses after being asleep or aloof with your thoughts. Some of my favorites are Rubick’s Cube, Sudoku, Word Jumbles, quick short arithmatic or memory games to name a few. Anything that requires quick, intelligent thought is best. Quick instinctual games don’t work as well, nor do longer logistic games where there is not a distinct answer. The whole idea is to get the juices flowing again, not to bore you or deter you from wanting to wake up!

3. Read, type, write or blog! – This is a easy way to “kill two birds with one stone”. Reading and writing will not only keep your mental alertness up, but you might learn something in the process!