Energize Yourself

Do you feel yourself running out of steam halfway through your day? Are you feeling too tired to work out, hang out with friends, or just to gather enough enthusiasm to go out at night? If so, then you need to work on energizing yourself a little more. All you've got to do is maintain a diet that maximizes your energy and try a few simple tricks to energize your mind and body. If you want to energize yourself, just follow these steps.

Steps

Energizing Your Diet

  1. Eat a healthy breakfast. Eating a healthy breakfast is the best thing you can do to start your day off on the right foot and to energize yourself before you walk out the door. Eating a nutritious and not-too-heavy breakfast will give you the energy you need to start the day and will keep you from crashing or getting tired before noon. You should eat a balance of lean proteins, healthy veggies, and some carbs to get your day started. Avoid foods that are too sugary like muffins or too greasy like bacon and opt for something filling but healthier instead. Here are some foods that can help you feel energized:[1]
    • Oatmeal
    • Hard-boiled or sunny-side eggs made with low-fat butter
    • Turkey bacon or ham
    • Greens like celery, spinach, leeks, or kale
    • Blackberries, raspberries, bananas, apples, or pears
    • Whole wheat toast or whole wheat bagels
    • Cereal with low-fat milk
    • Yogurt and granola
  2. Eat three balanced meals. Though breakfast is the most important meal, you need to keep yourself energized throughout the day so you can continue to feel alert and motivated. Make sure to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, no matter how busy or tired you may feel. Have a balance of proteins, carbs, and fruits and veggies during all of your meals, and try not to have too heavy of a lunch, or you will feel yourself flatlining afterwards. Your dinner should be medium-sized so you don't wake up feeling too hungry, but not so heavy that you feel completely lethargic after you eat. Here are some great foods you can eat for lunch or dinner:
    • Lunch: salads with nuts and berries, tomato soup, turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread, salmon, polenta, and tuna with fennel.
    • Dinner: salmon and quinoa, whole wheat pasta and lemon chicken, brown rice and mushrooms, and couscous and turkey.
  3. Eat energizing snacks. Your three meals are important, but so are the snacks you eat throughout the day that will keep you going. You should eat something at least every 3-4 hours even if you're not particularly hungry. Try to avoid going into any of your meals feeling lightheaded or incredibly hungry, because this will undoubtedly make you lose your energy, overeat, and then get tired from eating too much. Avoid this cycle by keeping healthy and nutritious snacks on hand to keep you going throughout the day. Here are some great energizing snacks you should eat:
    • Granola
    • Yogurt
    • Almonds, cashews, or peanuts
    • A small piece of chocolate
    • Celery and peanut butter
    • Apples and honey
  4. Eat more foods that are rich in fiber. Fiber gives you more energy throughout the day than carbs because it enters your bloodstream at a steadier pace than carbs do, so the energy it gives you can last longer. Foods that are rich in fiber can be great additions to your meals or to the snacks you eat throughout the day. Here are some foods known for being rich in fiber:[2]
    • Rye bread
    • Pistachios
    • Raspberries
    • Lentils
    • Figs
    • Lima beans
    • Pecans
  5. Eat foods rich in Omega 3s. You can find Omega 3 fatty acid in canola oil, fatty fish, and walnuts. Omega 3 is known for making you feel more mentally alert, and therefore more energized. You should try to eat fatty fish and walnuts at least every day or two to energize yourself.[3]
  6. Stay hydrated. If you want to energize yourself, then you have to drink at least 10 8-oz. glasses of water each day. You need to do this even if you don't feel thirsty at all if you want to keep yourself feeling alert and enthusiastic. Carry a water bottle wherever you go, and stop to drink at water fountains even if you aren't really thirsty. Have a glass of water with each meal or snack to remind yourself to stay hydrated.
  7. Take it easy on the caffeine. You don't have to stop drinking caffeine completely, but you should know that while drinking more caffeine may make you more energetic in the short-term, it'll make you feel more fatigued and tired in the long run. Try to avoid drinking coffee after noon and if you do drink caffeine, try to sip it slowly instead of downing that cup of coffee in ten minutes and then feeling the jitters.[4]The caffeine in tea can affect you a bit less harshly than the caffeine in coffee so you should try switching from coffee to tea to keep yourself from losing energy quickly.
    • Drinking too much caffeine will also keep you up at night, which will lead you to wake up with less energy -- which you'll try to fight with more caffeine. Break this cycle if you want to feel more energized.
    • If you do want to wean yourself off of so much caffeine, you can do it slowly; quitting coffee cold turkey can make you feel tired and restless, especially if you're used to drinking a lot of it.
  8. Avoid drinking too much alcohol. Alcohol is a depressant and it can make you feel tired and lead you to fall into a less restful sleep. If you want to energize yourself, then you may think that going out to the bars and downing five beers with your friends will make you feel more excited about life; in fact, the more alcohol you drink, the more likely you are to feel tired and irritable -- even if you don't feel its effects right away.
    • If you do like to have a glass of wine or two in the evenings, avoid drinking alcohol less than two hours before you go to bed. It can help you fall asleep, but it will make you have a more shallow and restless sleep.[5]

Energizing Your Body

  1. Exercise. Exercising will make you feel more energized, happier, and more physically fit. If you’re feeling sluggish, chances are that working out is the last thing you want to do, but that’s precisely what will make you feel more alert and alive. Just 30 minutes of exercise a day will boost your energy levels overall, not to mention that it will have marked improvements on your health. You can run every other day, take a yoga class a few times a week, join a team sport, or find a workout buddy and hit up the gym.[6]
    • Try to be active whenever you can. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk instead of driving. Do some sit-ups when you’re watching TV.
    • Work out in the morning. This will wake your body up and will give you more energy throughout the day.
  2. Take power naps. Power naps have been proven to wake up your body when you’re feeling a lack of energy. Just close yourself off in a dark room for 15-20 minutes, close your eyes, and let yourself drift off. Even if you don’t end up falling asleep completely, you will gain energy from resting your body. Power naps are superior to real naps; sleeping for over an hour or more will actually make you feel more tired and groggy when you wake up, and can keep you up at night.
    • A good time to take a power nap can be after lunch, when you’re feeling a little tired after eating.
  3. Splash cold water on your face. Take a few handfuls of cold water and splash it on your face when you’re feeling tired. This is a great trick to wake yourself up in the morning – not to mention make yourself feel cleaner – and also for energizing yourself throughout the day.
  4. Get outside. Just being outside as much as you can has been proven to make people feel happier and more energetic. Getting some fresh air in your lungs can invigorate you and make you feel ready to embrace the day. Stepping outside or onto your balcony right after you wake up and breathing in fresh air just for a minute can make you more energized almost instantly. If you can get some sunlight, make sure to do it; instead of eating lunch at your desk, step out to get some lunch or eat it on a park bench.
    • If you spend eight hours in a row indoors, then you will be drained of your energy much more quickly than if you took breaks and spent some time outside.
  5. Take a twenty-minute walk. Walking for just twenty minutes can wake up your mind and body and make you feel more energized. Whenever you feel your energy waning, step outside, get some fresh air, and move your body.[4]
  6. Get enough sleep. Getting enough sleep is crucial if you want to energize yourself. You may be feeling tired simply because you haven’t been sleeping enough. You may think that enough willpower and caffeine can combat the fact that you’ve been averaging five hours of sleep a night, but nothing can substitute a good night’s sleep. Make sure to sleep for at least 7-8 hours a night and to go to bed around the same time every night and wake up at the same time in the morning; changing your sleeping schedule regularly can make you feel like you’re waking up with jet lag.
    • Make sure you have a good winding-down routine at least an hour before sleep. Turn off all visual stimuli, such as your phone, computer, and television, and read quietly in bed or listen to some calming music. This can help you fall asleep faster.
    • When you wake up, stop hitting snooze and start your day. Hitting snooze repeatedly will only make you fall back into a short, jagged sleep, and won’t actually make you feel any more rested. Waking up after you hear your alarm will make you feel more energized and more in control of your day.[4]

Energizing Your Mind

  1. Listen to some pump-up music. Turning on music can make you feel more energized instantly. If you’re feeling a little low on the energy scale, just put on your favorite pump up jam, whether you’re listening to Macklemore or Jackson 5. Get a friend to join a quick dance party with you or dance by yourself in a room. Just getting yourself moving will make you feel more energized, awake, and excited to be alive.
    • Alternately, you can also try listening to classical music, even if that’s not your thing. It has been proven to wake up your mind.
  2. Switch between tasks. Another way to energize your mind is to switch to doing something new. Let’s say you’ve been studying for your chemistry test for three hours and you feel yourself flagging. Well, try something new. Start planning that English essay instead, or write that Spanish paragraph you’ve been dreading. Switching gears to something new when the first thing isn’t working is a great way to make yourself feel energized.
    • Even if the task you’ve switched to isn’t necessarily more exciting than the last, just the effort of switching will make you feel a bit more energized.
    • Start your day off with a to-do list. That way, the options of tasks you can switch to will be more readily available and you’re less likely to get stuck doing something that is draining your energy.
  3. Reward yourself for your achievements. Setting up rewards for yourself is a great way to feel energized and motivated to continue on with your work or whatever else you have to do. Tell yourself that you’ll eat an ice cream sundae after you study for four hours. Say that you’ll finally go see the second Hunger Games with your friends after you finish all of your chores. Just the thought of something fun on the horizon can make you feel more energized and motivated to continue on with your day.
    • You can even reward yourself without leaving your desk. Tell yourself that after half an hour of work, you’ll spend five minutes reading that article your best friend sent you.
  4. Avoid multi-tasking. You may think that multi-tasking will keep you alert and can make you get everything done faster, but studies show that multi-tasking can actually drain you of energy faster, make you more distracted, and also make you less efficient than if you were focused on just one task at a time. Checking off items from your to-do list is much more effective – and much more likely to save energy – than trying to complete three tasks at once without fully getting them accomplished.
  5. Try the “ten more minutes” trick. Whenever you’re really flagging in the middle of a task, tell yourself, “I’ll just do this for ten more minutes.” Repeat this to yourself like a mantra as you continue to tackle the task. Setting a short time limit can make your task feel more manageable and less overwhelming and can keep you focused instead of making you lose patience.
    • If this trick works for you, then you can set longer time limits for yourself – half an hour or even an hour – if you want to muster the energy to master a particular task.
  6. Schedule your day around your energy peaks. This is another great trick for energizing yourself throughout the day. Though most people don’t have the luxury of scheduling their entire day around the peaks and valleys of their energy levels, small changes can make a big difference. If you know you have the most energy in the mornings, schedule your run for the mornings instead of struggling to run after a long day of work; if you know you get a little tired after lunch, then schedule some mindless tasks for that time, from running errands to doing the easiest part of your job.
    • Make a list of your typical schedule and try to chart your energy levels around it. What parts of your schedule can you change to make your life a little easier?
    • You may not be so aware of the ebbs and flows and of your energy levels. Try monitoring yourself on a typical day and keep track of how you feel.
  7. Take a vacation. Though you obviously can’t take a vacation every time you feel the need to really energize yourself, you’ll be surprised by how significantly a much-needed vacation can help spike up your energy levels when you return to your daily life. Whether you go to Bermuda or take a stay-cation to clean up your home and catch up on reading, just taking some time off from your usual tasks, spoiling yourself, and switching up your routine can help you feel more happy and energetic about facing the day.
    • If you can’t afford a vacation, even a day or two off from work can make you feel less overwhelmed and more alert.
  8. Take breaks every 60-90 minutes. Even the most focused, enthusiastic person needs to take a break every hour or hour and a half. Taking breaks, whether you’re taking a 15 minute walk, stepping outside to call home, or just switching gears and reading a few news stories, will make you feel reinvigorated and ready to tackle the tasks in front of you. Resting your mind a bit can give you more energy and will keep you from feeling burned out. Don’t skip that lunch break to get your work done faster; go out to lunch and return to your work with more energy.
    • Taking breaks can also be great for your eyes. Turn away from that computer and turn to a newspaper, look out a window, or even rake your Zen garden. Your eyes will get weary if you stare at a computer for eight hours straight without a break.
  9. Get social. If you feel your mind starting to drift off and start gearing up for a nap, then it may be time to hang out with your friends. When you’re feeling tired and sleepy, the last thing you may want to do is hang out with a bunch of people, but that’s precisely the thing that will make you more energized. Talking to a close friend or hanging out in a big group can make you feel more energized because you’ll be talking to other people and engaging in a fun, active conversation instead of just sitting there getting tired.
    • So, the next time you need more energy, call up a friend and make plans to hang out. You’ll feel energetic again in no time.

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Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/your-guide-to-never-feeling-tired-again
  2. ↑ http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fiber-foods/NU00582
  3. ↑ http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/omega-3/
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/15/sleep-deprivation-energy-boosters_n_3749780.html
  5. ↑ http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/nix-nightcap-better-sleep
  6. ↑ http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20061103/exercise-fights-fatigue-boosts-energy
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