Tips on how to recover (office edition)

Hockey player turned writer Justin Bourne should be manditory reading (also look for him on Twitter and USA Today).  He's just like me, only about three times better since he made it to the ECHL, has a famous father who's won Stanley Cups and is engaged to Islanders legend Clark Gillies' daughter (so you just know his kids are gonna be great players).

Anyways, Bourne's latest blog for the Hockey News was about how to fake it at the rink the day after staying at the bar too long.  No one, and I mean no one, fakes it better than I do, so here's my take on how to fake it in the office after celebrating too late into the night after that playoff series win (Capitals and Sharks fans can stop reading here).

1)  Make sure you set your alarm clock.  No seriously, you're gonna need to make it to work.  Programming a cell phone for 15 minutes after you get up is an awesome fail-safe that's come in handy for me several times when I wake only long enough to turn the alarm off and go right back to passed out bliss.

2) Skip breakfast.  It's only going to make you want to throw up anyways.  Coffee, water and gatorade is what you'll turn to when your insides feel drier than the Sahara.

3) Toilet Nap.  Find an abandoned bathroom, go to the handicap stall, and utilize the extra TP role as a pillow and catch some well-deserved sleep.  Again, the cell phone alarm for 15-30 minutes will come in clutch.  If someone asks where you've been, you don't have to lie just say "sorry boss, been in the bathroom" and you won't get a follow-up question.  But if you look sluggish or make foolish mistakes you don't normally make, it also plants a bug in their head that you're not feeling well for reasons that aren't 100% your own fault.

4) Lunch hour.  It doesn't take a whole hour to eat lunch (especially when you don't feel like a human being).  If you have a car and some extra time, sounds like you have another nap opportunity if it's needed.

Sleep, especially when you can stay on the clock is the key.  Unless you're George Costanza, at desk snoozing probably isn't in the cards.  The old tried and true methods -- stay quiet, avoid others, have papers on your desk to make yourself look busier than you are, are always in play for a slack recovery day.

But you gotta be careful, if you've got a meeting to prep for or attend, showing up in hangover city isn't cute and won't cut it for very long.  Everyone can fake it once in a while though, so stick to the above tips and you should be straight to bail yourself up for last night's bad (but fun) idea.

Did I miss anything?  How do you fake it when you feel less than 100% at the office?