Reaching for the jelly snake to keep you awake?

How do you cope with the daily grind? Is it a chat over the water cooler, a lunchtime jog or a dip into the lolly jar at 3pm?

Dr Stacey Parker from The University of Queensland School of Psychology wants to know.

“I’m after 100 adult employees who work fairly standard 9am-5pm hours, or similar,” Dr Parker said.

“They can be full-time or part-time and any type of role is fine, though access to the internet is important.

“I’ll be looking at how they manage energy levels to get through the day.”

The study involves an initial survey to familiarise researchers with participants, then one week later participants will wear a small, lightweight heart rate monitor under their work outfit and at home.

Regular brief online surveys will then need to be completed at work and home for a 24-hour period only.

Some of the topics participants will be asked about include their social interactions throughout the day, goal-setting strategies, periods of reflection, teamwork and diversionary tactics.

Dr Parker will provide individual feedback to  study participants about the findings of their heart rate data.

“We’ll be able to reveal to them a few things they may not otherwise realise about how their day was spent and how they reacted,” Dr Parker said.

“There will be some insight about how they coped with different tasks, the effectiveness of their sleep and how their results in a home environment compared to at work."

Participants will  go into a draw to win one of three $100 gift cards.

People who have heart troubles, take medications that vary heart rate or have a pacemaker or similar device fitted will not be able to take part.

Testing will begin in early October.

Media: Dr Stacey Parker s.parker@psy.uq.edu.au, +61 7 3365 6423; Robert Burgin, UQ Communications, r.burgin@uq.edu.au, +61 7 3346 3035, +61 448 410 364.