Boosting your energy levels is not sorcery. It’s an accumulation of powerful, energy-increasing habits. By taking care of your health and sleep, planning well, and cutting out destructive activities, you can kick-start your daily output.
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We all want more energy.
We want to wake up energized instead of feeling exhausted. We want to perform our tasks with determination instead of sleepwalking from activity to activity. And most importantly, we want to avoid sudden outbursts of tiredness.
In short, we need to keep our energy levels high to remain focused and productive.
But how do we achieve that? What kind of habits secure consistently high energy levels?
10 habits that can help you have 10 times more energy
There are many ways to boost your energy every day, but a series of core habits will do the trick for most people.
On this basis, here are ten ways to have more energy throughout the day.
1. Keep the same sleeping rhythm
The first primary energy booster is your sleeping rhythm.
We all know that we should get 7-8 hours of sleep. But that’s not the point. Your average number of hours is crucial, but your rhythm is even more essential.
If you want to have more energy throughout the day, stick to a regular sleeping cycle. The problem with merely counting hours is that it could lead to oversleeping and, by extension, more tiredness.
Oversleep will usually decrease your energy levels as it will prevent you from fully waking up. As such, you’ll spend the first few hours trying to get your energy levels up. Worse still, regular oversleeping can lead to long-term health complications such as back pain and weight gain, according to Healthline.
Consequently, try to get your 7-8 hours during a specific timeframe – midnight to 7 am, for example – and stick to that rhythm. The longer you retain your familiar sleeping pattern, the more energy you’ll get out of it. Similarly, a predictable wake-up time will help you get into a productive groove in the morning.
2. Identify your peak performance hours
We all have periods in which we feel super productive. During these stretches, we are highly motivated and complete our work efficiently and diligently. These are our “peak performance hours.”
To feel more energized throughout the day, you need to identify those periods and utilize them to the max.
Personally, it’s early morning. I work best between 8-11 am, and that’s why I dedicate these hours to my most critical work. I don’t do anything else during these hours and focus on one particular task.
Allocate your peak performance hours properly, and you’ll have lots of energy reserves for the remainder of the day.
3. Plan your day intentionally
One of the secrets to having more energy every day concerns your planning.
The better you plan, the more you can spread your energy efficiently.
What does that mean in practice?
Plan your days around peak performance hours as well as energy-boosting breaks. You could, for example, divide your day into various one-hour blocks of cognitively-challenging work and always plan 10 minutes of mindfulness – like reading or meditation – between those blocks.
In a 2013 blog post, Cal Newport, author of Deep Work, compares this planning method to a chessboard.
“This type of planning, to me, is like a chess game, with blocks of work getting spread and sorted in such a way that projects big and small all seem to click into completion with (just enough) time to spare.”
4. Exercise every day
It might sound obvious, but exercising is undoubtedly one of the keys to having more energy every day.
Even if it’s just a 20-minute home workout, daily sessions will safeguard your energy levels. There are thousands of possibilities – explained by an endless offer of online content – to exercise without any material, and you don’t need a lot of time.
As such, there are no more excuses. If you want to have more energy, exercise every day.
5. Implement a no-screen rule for the last hour of your day
Another habit that worked wonders for my energy levels is a no-screen rule for the last hour of the day.
I copied this principle from Tim Ferriss’s night routine, and I’ve implemented it for the past couple of years. The effects are profound.
In truth, most screens suck out our energy.
We scroll aimlessly on social media, get fired up as a result of news reports, and binge-watch Youtube videos. By ensuring that the last hour of our day is free of those activities, we cut out negative thoughts and learn how to empty our minds. The shutdown will improve the quality of our sleep – bolstering our energy levels for the next day.
6. Get your diet in order
There is a myriad of nutritional content out there, so I’ll keep this paragraph short: get your diet in order, and you’ll have ten times more energy.
The first step toward a better diet is to reduce your sugar intake and eliminate processed food and unhealthy snacks. In that same vein, don’t eat too much or too little.
Listen to your body, eat real food, and you’ll multiply your energy levels.
7. Perform a midday reset
Another energy-inducing habit is to perform a “midday reset.”
There is a reason why Southern European cultures like to nap during siesta times – between 1 pm and 5 pm – and why the Japanese do “power naps” after lunch.
In simple terms, we often lack energy in the middle of the day, and we need to find ways to refuel. That’s where “midday resets” come into play.
You don’t need a fully-fledged siesta. You merely need a break during which you relax and recharge your batteries. Personally, it’s a 15-minute “do-nothing moment” after lunch. During these 15 minutes, I think, listen to calming music, and clear my thoughts. The reset helps re-invigorate my body and mind, and I’ll encounter the rest of my day with more energy and poise.
8. Empty your mind at night
Much like performing a midday reset, emptying your mind at night is crucial for the next day’s energy levels.
The idea is to find activities that create a serene environment and build a night routine around them. Once identified, this night routine will help calm your nerves at night and start the process of recharging your batteries for the next day.
9. Drink more water
How much water should we drink every day?
Medical advice varies, but it always hovers around the two-liter mark.
To keep it simple, drink at least two liters, but preferably more. To secure my daily water intake, I now put two half-liter glasses next to my bed and drink them right after getting up.
The ritual ensures that I gulp down one liter right from the getgo – simplifying the act of drinking two or three liters every day. And this increased water intake is a surefire way to boost your energy levels.
10. Plan the next day’s activities and to-dos
Finally, the last aspect of having more energy throughout the day is nightly planning.
“A successful day starts the night before” is an overused quote, but it’s nonetheless a vital element when it comes to productivity.
If you want to wake up full of energy and determination, plan all of your activities before going to sleep. Put a journal next to your bed, and don’t go to sleep before knowing what you have to do the next morning.
When your activities are well-planned, you’ll feel less overwhelmed and anxious about them. And this increased confidence will have a positive impact on your overall energy levels.
Useful links on 10 Powerful Habits That Can Help You Have 10 Times More Energy
- more in the section “Life”
- more under the topic “Productivity”
- read 10 Minimalist Steps to Instant Productivity Improvement
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