Itβs the middle of the day and you already feel like youβre not going to make it without a nap or a shot of caffeine. Weβve all been there, and itβs a bummer. If you find yourself in this situation often, chances are thereβs something about your lifestyle thatβs affecting your energy levels, and you need to correct it if you want more sustainable energy.
Think of your body as a machine. If you donβt treat it right and carry out some maintenance, it wonβt work at 100%. In this article, weβll talk about some of the most common causes behind chronic tiredness, and go over several tips to increase your energy levels.
Letβs get to it!
Why You Donβt Have Enough Energy Throughout the Day
When youβre feeling tired, youβre not at your most productive. Itβs normal enough to be a bit exhausted after a long day of work. However, if you feel like you lack energy all the time, thereβs likely an underlying problem you need to address. Some of the most common causes of chronic tiredness include:
- A lack of sleep.
- Unhealthy eating choices.
- Youβre not exercising enough.
- An over-reliance on stimulants such as coffee to get through the day.
- Youβre bored by your routine.
Those are just a few of the potential causes behind your lack of energy. In most cases, diagnosing the problem is easy enough. If youβre sleeping five hours every night and pounding five espressos to get through the day, youβre probably aware thatβs not sustainable. You can push yourself a bit for a few days if needed, but over the long term, that pace will damage your body and impact your productivity.
The main takeaway is, if you feel tired all the time and you think itβs impacting your personal and work life, you need to make some changes to your routine.
How to Get More Energy Starting Today
In this section, weβll teach you how to get more energy by making some lifestyle changes. For each method, weβll talk about how long it takes to see results and how you can go about putting it in action.
Letβs get into it!
1. Cut Down on Your Caffeine Intake
Cutting down on coffee and other energy drinks may sound counterproductive. After all, youΒ wantΒ more energy, and those types of drinks are all about giving you a quick boost.
The problem is, drinking too much coffee can affect the quality of your sleep, which can lead you to feel tired the next day. Caffeine stays in your system for anywhere between four to six hours. This means if you drink a cup at 6pm, you may still feel its effects by 10β12pm.
Usually, thatβs about the time youβd want to go to bed during the week, so you can get at least 7β9 hours of rest. Of course, your mileage may vary, but the later you drink coffee in the day, the greater the affect on your rest.
Putting sleep aside, overindulging withΒ coffee can also increase your heart rate and anxiety levels. Of course, we wonβt tell you to cut it out of your life entirely. According to some studies, you can drink up to four cups of coffee a day and stay within the βsafeβ range.
Even so, if youβre up to four cups a day, weβd recommend cutting back to three, to be safe. Anything over four cups and you need to lower your intake, which is the kind of change you can put into action right away.
2. Drink a Glass of Water
It costs almost nothing to have a quick glass of water, and you can do it in minutes. Surprisingly enough, some studies show a lot of people arenβt drinking enough water throughout the day. This is a big problem because even slight dehydration can impact your brain function and energy levels.
If youβre the kind of person who doesnβt usually reach for the water bottle when youβre feeling thirsty, it may be a cause behind your low energy levels. Youβre going to find a lot of varying information on how much water you need to drink per day. However, the prevailing wisdom is that your body requires aroundΒ eight glasses of water per day, as a rule of thumb.
To be safe, we recommend carrying a water bottle around with you. Also, make an effort to go for a glass of water instead the next time youβre jonesing for a soda or another type of sugary drink. While the sugar may give you a quick boost of energy, the resulting crash can play havoc with your productivity.
3. Take a Short Walk
Weβll talk more shortly about how exercise can affect your energy levels. However, youβll be happy to know even minimal amounts of physical activity are often enough to give you a quick energy boost.
Case in point β a study showed the energizing effects of a brisk ten-minute walk were about equivalent to a cup of coffee. If you work in an office, you can give this exercise a shot by taking a walk or two around the block during your next break. If you canβt leave the premises, a long set of stairs can do the trick as well (plus, itβs excellent exercise).
The best part is, you donβt need to break a sweat to reap the benefits. As long as youβre not strolling around at a snailβs pace, even those ten minutes of exercise should be enough to wake you up a bit during the middle of the day.
If youβre a coffee drinker, try replacing one cup of brew a day for a ten-minute walk and see how it works out for you. Also, feel free to make the walk longer if you have the time for it!
4. Take a Look at Your Diet
Thereβs a reason why people make such a big fuss about healthy eating. Itβs not just because it can go a long way towards getting you a six-pack β following a proper diet can also have a significant impact on your mood and energy levels.
For example, too much coffee can leave you feeling anxious, as we mentioned earlier. If you overdo it with sugar, youβll crash at some point, and you probably wonβt get much done for the rest of the day.
Those are just examples of foods affecting your energy in the short term. However, eating a balanced diet is also essential over the long term. If you regularly overdo it with food, youβre going to feel sluggish constantly. The same goes if youβre not ingesting essential nutrients. For example, a lack of iron is a quick ticket to fatigue and sometimes depression.
Fixing your diet isnβt something you can do overnight though. You can start making healthy food decisions right away, but for them to stick, youβll need to follow a plan. If itβs within your means, we recommend consulting a nutritionist who can give you advice on a diet that works for you. Otherwise, there are plenty of great resources you can check out online for information on how to eat more healthily.
5. Develop Healthy Sleeping Habits
If youβre not getting enough sleep, youβre going to feel tired β itβs a simple equation. You can mask the tiredness with coffee, follow a healthy diet, and try umpteen other tricks. However, science says you need aroundΒ six to eight hours of quality sleep per night. However, itβs a change that can take a while to implement.
By quality sleep, we mean not spending hours tossing and turning in bed. This can happen because (among other reasons) you stayed up later than you should have,Β used your smartphone to close to bedtime, or had caffeine too late in the evening.
A lot of people brag about being able to function on fewer hours of rest. However, research shows that once you dip below the six-hour threshold, it affects your overall health, even if you can get through the day.
If youβre not accustomed to getting a good nightβs sleep, there are several things you can do to rest better:
- Avoid using computers or mobile devices right before going to bed, since they can impact your melatonin levels.
- Donβt ingest coffee or other stimulants for at least six hours before bed.
- Try exercising more so youβll have an easier time falling asleep.
- Make an effort to stick to a sleep schedule, so your body gets used to it.
Developing healthy sleeping habits can take a while if youβre not used to it. For some people, it might take weeks for the new routine to stick. However, once you start getting more rest, you should feel your energy levels increase drastically. Chances are you wonβt even need as much coffee to get through the day, so thatβs another victory!
6. Start Exercising Consistently (Even If You Start Small)
When youβre feeling tired, the last thing you probably want to do is squeeze in a workout. However, sticking to an exercise routine has been shown to increase energy levels over the long-term.
Weβve already talked about how a quick walk is enough to make you feel less sluggish. However, you need to step it up if you want to see significant results. Studies suggest that to reap in moderate benefits, you need at least 150 minutes of aerobic activity per week. For the best possible results, though, youβll need to exercise for at least 30 minutes a day with moderate intensity.
However, most of us donβt have the time to work out every day, so we need to compromise. A minimum of three hour-long workouts per week strikes a good balance of a lot of people, and you can increase this if your schedule allows for it.
The trick is to find some exercise that doesnβt feel like a chore, so youβll want to incorporate it into your routine over the long term. If you hate jogging, give swimming a try. If thatβs too tame for you, check out a boxing class. Chances are thereβs at least one physical activity youβll love, so look for it and get started as soon as possible!
Conclusion
If you want to increase your energy levels, you need to take good care of your body β thereβs no way around it. However, there are several things you can do if you just need a quick energy boost. For example, drinking a glass of water or taking a quick walk are surefire ways to wake up a bit.
Over the medium to long-term, youβll want to develop better habits to keep your energy levels up, though. This means improving your diet and exercising regularly, among other things, which can be tough yet rewarding.
What do you do when you need a quick boost of energy throughout the day? Share your tips with us in the comments section below!
Article thumbnail image by Fred Ho / shutterstock.com
Thanks for the post John. The post was like a reminder. We Bloggers often forget these healthy practices
β¦which is why we feel they’re great articles to give to the community! Thanks for your comment. π
Very helpful article, nice one.
No problem, Ben. π
Pretty informative & helpful article.Thanks admin
Thanks, Zeeshan!
A quick load (or two) of laundry. Gets me off the computer and on my feet, and leaves evening/weekend time open for family time & activities (a spouse favorite).
You’re onto something here, Chad. It’s almost like you’re implementing a Pomodoro-style technique, and keeping your energy levels up at the same time!
If a person changes their eating habits, it tends to gear them towards going to the gym and getting in shape. Which in turn forces the body to make you sleep because it needs to recover. Plus, if you’re drinking coffee, there is a huge difference in drinking straight black coffee which is actually good for you and some kind of overpriced coffee drink from Starbucks and the like that is loaded with sugar. The sugar spike and drop is what you are crashing from, not the coffee. This is also the same reason why so many people believe they have more energy from tea since it isn’t typically served with a bunch of junk in it.
This is a good piece of insight, David. Thanks. π
Super helpful, thanks so much!
Glad to hear it, Mike!