Mastering self-control is much harder when you’re tired (and hungover to boot). Somehow indulging the body feels very justified, rather like when you’re a little bit ill or sad. And therein lies the fallacy of indulgence. That stodgy breakfast, milky coffee, late afternoon slab of chocolate may gratify your desires but won’t make you feel in better; indeed, it will almost certainly make you feel worse.

Pleasure is your goal, not indulgence. A tired day needs careful management right up to the point at which you can take pleasure in it again (especially in dark and chilly January). This longer term view should provide the discipline to carry you through those bleak hours of fatigue, which can rear up and tempt you throughout a day after a night before.

1. If it’s the weekend, then allow yourself only an extra half an hour, or hour at the most, in bed – not more. Sleeping longer than that will make you feel dozy for the rest of the day.  If it’s a working day, get up as you normally would – desperately grabbing at an extra 10 minutes under the covers will only make you late and set everything off on the wrong foot.

2. Maintaining your morning ritual of a glass of water, followed by green or herbal tea, is of utmost importance. All that liquid will help wake you up. When you move onto breakfast, you can afford yourself a small treat to perk you up still further. To accompany your usual fare, think about perhaps a glass of freshly squeezed juice, or half a grapefruit, a hunk of camembert or an additional small plain yoghurt with a little cinnamon sprinkled on top.

3. If you don’t feel you need that extra treat at breakfast, then find time for it mid-morning instead. Make your coffee a milky one, have a cracker with hummus, spend five minutes on Net-a-porter, drink your saved-up fresh juice ration – just something you wouldn’t do otherwise.

4. A light and protein-filled lunch is essential. Anything too starchy will weigh you down today and leave you feeling very sleeping in the afternoon. This is not to say that lunch must be small. Quite the opposite: try and find a large piece of fish, accompanied by a good amount of vegetables – a big salad nicoise, mackerel on steamed greens, two M&S salads and some smoked salmon, something like that. And go out for it, rather than eating it at your desk. If you’re at home, then pop to the shops and spend a good amount of time making it yourself. The fresh air will help wake you up.

5. Beware the inevitable dips, when your eyelids droop and you feel almost desperate for a caffeine or sugar kick. Recognise these moments for what they are – sleep deprivation. You don’t need something silly, like a diet coke. It’s only good food, lots of water and an early night that can truly help.

6. Around 4pm find another reason to go outside, or at least stretch your legs by going to the kitchen and standing next to an open window. Complaining colleagues or flatmates can be placated with the suggestion that you’re airing the room for everyone’s benefit. If at home, partake in some sort of vigorous exercise – a brisk walk around the park, a gentle run, a yoga class. There’s nothing more suffocating than spending an entire sleepy day cooped up indoors, especially in winter when the heating’s on.

7. If at work, leave the office as early as is possible. Your brain will be unproductive, and you’ll be better for the change of scene afforded by the bus ride home. Your evening meal should be light and early. Crackers, veg, maybe a boiled egg. Or a bowl of simple homemade soup and a hunk of cheese. You’ll be off to bed soon, and you don’t want anything bigger sitting around in your tummy when you go. An hour or so’s TV is allowed. A good book would be better. Then to bed with you, by 10 o’clock.

A simple soup (serves four, or dinner for one for a few days) 

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 1 large onion
• A bay leaf
• 1 leek
• 2 carrots
• 2 stick of celery
• 1 kohlrabi
• 3 cloves of garlic
• Water
• 2 handfuls of red lentils
• Cream (100ml) or coconut milk (150 – 200ml)
• Lemon or lime
• Fresh parsley
• Salt and pepper

Method

Start by roughly slicing the onion – or finely chop, if that pleases you, but it’s unnecessary if you’re short of time or patience. Pour a good glug of olive oil (2 tbs) into a large lidded pan and turn on to a medium heat. After a few moments, add the onions and bay leaf, cover with the lid, and sweat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to stop any sticking.

Prepare the remaining vegetables whilst the onions soften, and add them to the pan as you go along. Start by slicing the carrots, then celery and then leek. Next, peel and dice the kohlrabi. My only instruction here is to be sure to generously peel the kohlrabi, taking off all the hard green exterior – it makes for an unpleasant texture otherwise. But it’s really up to you how small you chop. I like soup chunky; you may not. Finally, add in two of your three garlic cloves, roughly chopped or sliced (they’ll burn if you make them too small).

Give the all the vegetables a quick stir, and cover again with the lid. Leave to cook for another five minutes or so, during which time you can give the red lentils a good rinse in a sieve under cold running water. Add a mugful of hot water to your soup and your red lentils at the same time. Leave to simmer for fifteen minutes. If the soup looks too dry, add a touch more water.

Use this time to make a very simple ‘pistou’ (in layman’s terms herb and garlic oil and lemon juice mixture) which you’ll add to the soup just before serving. First grate or crush your final clove of garlic and put it in a small water glass. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the glass and the juice of half a lemon (or lime, if you fancy the idea of coconut milk instead of dairy). Use the kitchen scissors to finely chop lots of fresh parsley into the glass, add salt and pepper and then give the mixture a good whisk using a fork. Set aside.

Remove the bay leaf from the pan and add your cream or coconut milk (the lighter option and delicious with lime). Season with salt (a little) and pepper (a lot), and briefly heat until simmering again. On serving, add a generous swirl your herby ‘pistou’ to each bowl. Any remains can be easily frozen, or kept in the fridge for another day.

If chunky soup doesn’t appeal at all, make smooth using a handheld blender before adding the cream or coconut milk. Of course, all sorts of other vegetables work well too. Lentils can be replaced with canned chickpeas – or indeed kohlrabi with broccoli, cauliflower or courgettes. Fresh spinach added just before the cream or coconut milk is another lovely addition.