Do you usually feel tired when you wake up? Have you come to depend on energy drinks to get you through the day?
If this sounds like you, it’s time to stop using quick fixes and make a plan for managing your energy. Getting started may seem hard, but once you think about how a better, healthier, and more productive life will make you feel, you’ll be motivated to keep going.
What is energy management?
Consider of your energy as a precious commodity, like money in a bank account. When the day starts, you have a certain amount of money to spend. The amount changes from person to person based on things like age, how much sleep they get, how much stress they have, their health, and how they live.
Activities and exchanges either take energy out of your account or add energy to it. Even though you might not always be able to stop things that drain your energy, you can do things to add more energy to your account.
To have more energy and lead a happier, healthier, and more fruitful life, heed these seven advice:
1. Sleep between seven and eight hours per night.
One of the most beneficial things you can do to set yourself up for a productive day is to make sleep a priority. Not getting enough sleep can make major health problems worse and hurt your mood, motivation, and energy. A healthy trait that many people need to work on is sleeping well. Most people need at least seven to eight hours of sleep a night, so what keeps them from getting it?
If you have trouble sleeping, watch how you sleep. Take note of how much you sleep each night, the things that affect your sleep or lack of it, how relaxed you feel, and how much energy you have during the day. Then, try to improve your sleep by doing things like making your room more relaxing and quiet, cutting down on light and noise, making a bedtime schedule, dealing with stress, and turning off your electronics.
Be consistent with whatever you choose to start with. Using the same sleep routine and sleep strategies will help your body build its own internal alarm clock, which can improve the quality of your sleep. With better sleep, people feel better physically and emotionally, are less likely to get sick, and are more efficient.
2. Eat healthy food.
A healthy, balanced food is at the heart of being happy and healthy. But most people only think of good eating as a way to lose weight. According to the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the best way to get enough energy is to eat a balanced diet with a lot of fruits and veggies, lean protein, low-fat dairy, and whole grains. What you eat does affect who you are.
Eat things from all of the food groups to get a wide range of nutrients that will keep you going all day. Choose fresh or frozen fruits and veggies, especially broccoli and dark, leafy greens that are high in nutrients, as well as carrots and sweet potatoes, which are orange. You can get good protein from a lot of different kinds of fish and legumes. Aim to eat 3 ounces of cereal, bread, rice, or pasta with whole grains every day.
3. Get regular physical activity.
Do you start to feel tired around the middle of the day? Have you ever been tired from doing easy things like grocery shopping or housework? The Department of Health and Human Services suggests that adults do at least 150 minutes of moderately intense physical activity each week. Despite what you may think, this will add to your energy account, not take away from it.
Workout helps you feel less stressed and tense, builds muscle strength and endurance, and makes your body work better when you do other physical activities or jobs.
4. Consider thinking positively about other people.
Another way to save energy is to keep a caring attitude. Kind care is an example of how this way of thinking can be used. Try to make eye contact with a stranger and smile while thinking, “I wish you well.” Instead, this good thing you did might keep you from judging that person. When we judge other people, we may also judge ourselves, and this kind of negative mental dialogue can be tiring.
Every step you take toward this important self-care effort will make you feel better.
5. Do an important thing every day.
What are you really interested in? Do you have a special skill that you’d like to use more or show to other people? Do something you enjoy every day, even if it’s just something easy like cooking a healthy meal or listening to your favorite song. Putting effort into the things that are most important to you will help you use and save your energy in ways that bring out what’s greatest in you.
6. Stay away from news overload.
Keeping up with the news is an important way to know what’s going on in the world. It can teach, entertain, and even lift your spirits.
There are too many sad stories in the news, which is a shame. These stories can make you see the world in a different way and make you worry about the worst things instead of seeing the good things around you.
You can’t completely avoid these stories, but you should try to limit how much you hear of them when you can, especially when things are hard.
7. Maintain good people around you.
Spend as much time as you can with the people you like being around. Connecting with people who are happy and share your hobbies will make you feel excited and energized.
On the other hand, spending time with people you don’t get along with, who have bad attitudes, complain a lot, or make bad decisions will only drain your energy. Be picky about who you hang out with.
When you’re around people who don’t give you energy, it’s important to set limits and guidelines to protect yourself and save your energy.