Boost Your ENERGY - 5 Unknown Steps To Stay Sharp During A Busy Workday

It's quite simple - feeling energetic is wonderful, yet being tired during a hectic workday can be awful. 

As you progress with your career and expand your business, you have many more responsibilities, tasks, decisions and concerns. When dealing with those high expectations and challenges, having more energy, focus and vitality can be a game changer. 

A client of mine, who lost 20 kg and improved his health, gave me a great analogy to this.

“Feeling so much more energized has been incredible, it’s like trading in a Dacia for a Mercedes!”

But what does it truly mean to be “energetic”?

To better understand, we can analyze five essential factors.

1. Dependency on coffee: Can you go through a full workday with only 1 cup of coffee?
2. Lunchtime: how do you feel after lunch? Sleepy and lethargic or energetic? 
3. At home: how do you feel in the evening? Do you have the energy to play with your kids and hang out with family and friends?
4. Physical activity: do you have the motivation and willpower to do exercise (even light walking) after the workday?
5. How is your mood? Are you content, calm and optimistic, or do you find yourself filled with worry, hostility, and a quick temper?

Let’s be honest here- you might not be able to achieve the exact levels of vitality and energy you had in your twenties. As we get older, our energy levels will tend to naturally decrease. 

However, with some simple lifestyle and nutritional adjustments, you can experience a huge boost and have a sufficient amount of energy to keep conquering your professional goals and also enjoy life. 

Here are 5 essential steps to boost your energy levels: 

1) Hydration

Water comprises 70% of our bodies, yet in the health and nutrition sphere, proteins, carbohydrates, and vitamins are most often highlighted - but proper hydration may be the most significant component of our health and vitality.

It sounds so simple, but when looking at the data, the average water consumption in the US is only 3.9 cups a day, while the recommendation is 12-13 cups a day! 

How proper hydration can boost our energy levels?

First, dehydration causes us to feel fatigued, unfocused and distracted. Interestingly enough, we might be dehydrated but not aware of that because sometimes we think it’s just hunger. 

Furthermore, when one is more inclined to drink more water, they often sugary sodas, alcohol, and caffeine drinks which all decrease energy levels in the long term.

So the first step is building the habit of drinking 12 cups of water a day. 

Pro tip? Drink 2 cups of water right after you wake up. Since we tend to become dehydrated during sleep, having some water right away will give you an instant energy boost.

2) Breakfast

Most of the important decisions, meetings and demanding tasks come early in the day. Between 9 am and lunch, we need to have the most focused, undistracted and productive hours. 

Taking that into consideration, we need to have a stable supply of energy and vitality in this time frame. 

Making breakfast a part of your morning routine can come in handy here; however, many people are mistaking it in one of two ways - either skipping it altogether or consuming an unhealthy breakfast high in fat or sugar that leaves them feeling groggy and lethargic.

I remember that back in my days in the Israeli army, breakfast was mandatory- even if we had 5 hours of sleep the night before. 

It’s essential for performing at your highest level. 

My recommendation? Before having your morning coffee, have a balanced & quick breakfast- the most ideal type would be oatmeal with fruits. 

3) Using coffee smart.

Coffee is more than just a delicious drink. It’s a powerful drug we need to use wisely. 

As we all know, coffee gives us an instant energy boost, makes us more alert and motivated, and reduces our tiredness. Coffee is an integral part of modern society. 

Coffee is a double edge sword- it can really help us become more productive, but it can also deplete our energy levels and vitality. 

How to use coffee smarter? 

• Don’t drink coffee (or any other caffeinated drinks) after 3 pm: Caffeine has a half-life time of 6 hours, which means that 25% of the caffeine we drink at midday stays in our bloodstream at midnight. We might not be aware of this, but caffeine ruins our sleep quality- thus our body doesn’t recover well- and so we have less energy the following day. 

• Don’t drink coffee right when you wake up: This will blow your mind. Caffeine essentially blocks adenosine, a compound that reduces cell activity and makes us more sleepy. In the morning, we naturally have some adenosine left from the night before, which usually dissolves after an hour. However, when we wake up and immediately drink coffee, this left amount of adenosine isn’t being processed, and then we feel its effect around lunchtime, which causes us to feel tired and sleepy again. If you wait for 90-120 minutes before drinking your first coffee, it will not happen and you’ll have more sustained energy during the day. 

• Drink water with the coffee: coffee is very dehydrating. Dehydration, as mentioned previously, is depleting our energy levels profoundly. If you drink a lot of coffee, make sure to keep your hydration in check. 

4) Recovering from mental fatigue

As a high-achieving professional, there is a lot of pressure that comes from handling complex issues, leading employees, developing organizations and making important decisions.

Stress can boost your energy in the short term, we all know this.

For example, there is an important deadline and suddenly we get this rush of energy to complete the task. This is a good capability we have and throughout history, it was a crucial component of our survival as a specie.

However, when it’s moderate stress on a consistent basis it not only affects us emotionally causing us to feel less motivated, depressed, overwhelmed and etc… it also has immense physical effects. 

Because of the constant workload and life pressures, there will be elevated cortisol levels in the body (the stress hormone).

Our bodies will have a difficult time clearing the excess levels of cortisol. The body doesn't have the necessary recovery time and therefore you will physically feel exhausted. 

Moreover, usually stress leads to sleep issues that enhance the problem of feeling drowsy. 

Each individual has different sources of stress, so the solution has to be customised for each one.

Generally, everyone can benefit from taking a daily “10 min break”.

In today's fast-paced world of non-stop notifications, emails, and commitments, a brief break from all that is often needed. Establishing a 10-minute daily habit of sitting comfortably, listening to calm music and just relaxing, without any distractions, is a powerful habit. 

5) Low glycemic foods

One of the most important factors that determine our energy and focus is our blood sugar. We all know the short “high” we get from eating something sweet and starchy, and the “down” and tiredness we feel 30 min after that. 

There are some foods that elevate our blood sugar rapidly but temporarily (such as white sugar, white bread, and pastries) and some foods that give us a stable and balanced blood sugar level (such as whole grains, legumes and vegetables). 

The term we use to determine that is called “glycemic index”. 

If we want to have sustainable and balanced energy levels during the entire day, we need to eat more foods that are low in glycemic index and avoid foods that have a high glycemic index (as much as we can). 

Practically, it means swapping white bread for whole wheat bread, choosing fruits for dessert instead of pastries and chocolates, choosing whole wheat pasta instead of regular one, and choosing sweet potatoes instead of potatoes. 

This recommendation is especially relevant for lunch because most people feel tired and unfocused after this meal. 

If you utilize low-glycemic foods, you understand that contrary to what most people think- carbs are not the enemy. We just need the right type of them.

I hope you found today's article helpful!

If one of your goals for this year is to become healthier, lose weight and get fit- check out our new guidebook, a 27-page pdf with tips, tools and ideas for better health with a demanding career.

Use the free download link.