If you’re like most busy people these days, you’re looking for ways to boost your energy.
You know that getting enough sleep, drinking coffee, exercising regularly, and eating a healthy diet can help you to produce the energy you need to keep up with your life.
But here on LEA, we’re interested in other ways to do things—ways that can be more effective for those with sensitive, intuitive natures.
To that end, here are a few other energy-boosting exercises you may want to try.
1. Create a “Bubble of Quiet”
We are all bombarded by distractions these days. Between televisions, cell phones, social media feeds, emails, the Internet, and more, we can find ourselves always turned “on” to feedback from these sources.
Science has shown that even when your cell phone is out of reach or turned off, your brain can still be attuned to what it may have to show you the next time you look at it. Will you get an email back? How many people liked your post?
So even if you’re relaxing in a comfortable chair, likely, you’re not fully relaxing. Part of you is still on edge. That can be taxing over time, leading to a sort of non-stop fatigue.
To counteract this state of affairs, we need to do more to recover. That means creating a “bubble of quiet” around you, a truly safe sanctuary where no distractions can intrude. Here are some tips on how to do that.
- Choose a place where you will not be disturbed for at least 30 minutes.
- Keep all technology out of this place, including televisions and phones.
- Put on a pair of noise-canceling earphones if you can’t get somewhere quiet.
- Don’t talk.
- Simply relax and breathe. If you get restless, focus on your breath. In and out.
If you’ll take just 20 minutes a couple of times a week to truly remove yourself from all distractions, it will help your brain to recover, which will help you feel more energized.
2. Think Faster
You know how it goes. When you feel low on energy, your mind slows down too. You start to think slower, which in turn, makes you feel more fatigue.
Pushing yourself to think faster might help. According to a 2006 study, speed of thought affects mood. When the scientists asked participants to read a list of statements faster than usual, the participants experienced improvements in mood, no matter whether the statements were positive or negative. It also helped them feel more energetic and creative.
How can you speed up your thinking? Try these tips:
- Read faster. If you aren’t reading at the moment, pick up something to read and push yourself to read it faster than usual.
- Come up with five ideas right now. The ideas can be related to whatever you like. Maybe about what you want to have for dinner, where you want to go this weekend, or what new blog post you want to write. Give yourself no more than one minute to come up with five ideas and write them down.
- Whatever you are doing at the moment, push yourself to get it done more quickly. That could be anything from washing the dishes to finishing a work project. See if you can get it done at least 10 minutes sooner than you planned.
You can find other ways to speed up your thinking. Just give it a try—you will probably notice that you’re feeling more energized when you finish your fast thinking spurt.
3. Go to Bed Earlier.
This may not seem like an unusual approach—unless you’re a night owl. And many creative, introverted people are.
To them, going to bed earlier sounds like a really bad idea. They’d prefer to sleep in a little more in the morning.
But some research suggests that a night owl’s habits can lead to a sort of chronic fatigue or brain fog that exists during the day—particularly if they have to get up at the same time everyone else in society does.
Even if you’re fortunate enough to be able to sleep in, you may still notice yourself dragging through the day. Some research shows that night owls don’t sleep as well, even if they get 7-8 hours. If that’s the case, try to go to bed and get up just a little bit earlier, to see if it might help.
Here are some tips on how to do that:
- Take baby steps. Don’t try to go to bed an hour earlier at first. Try 10-15 minutes instead, then get up the same amount of time earlier. Once you’ve gotten used to that, increase it by another 10-15 minutes.
- Do something you enjoy before bed. One reason night owls like to stay up is that they enjoy using their leisure time to do something fun and don’t want to stop to go to bed. So try luring yourself to bed with something you enjoy like a good book.
- Get some sunlight in the morning. Exposing yourself to sunlight first thing in the morning can help you feel more awake, and will also help you feel more sleepy at night.
- Make bed more appealing. Maybe you need a new mattress, some new sheets, or a special blanket for your bedroom. Make it easier to encourage yourself to go to bed at night—because you enjoy spending time there.
- Take a warm shower or bath before bed. It helps you relax and it also lowers your body temperature, which signals your brain it’s time to sleep.
- Journal in bed. Take a few minutes after getting into bed to journal about your day. Dump everything that’s in your brain on the page, and you may be more ready to sleep.
4. Go Somewhere New
If you’re dragging and you have the option, go somewhere you’ve never been before. That could be somewhere new for lunch. Or you could take a different route home. Or head over and check out the new paintings displayed at the art museum.
Routine, though important for productivity, can also lead to a dull, lackadaisical brain. You may just need to shake things up a bit. Ask your intuition where it wants you to go. Where is your energy pulling you?
Typically, going somewhere new energizes you, even if it’s just to a different grocery store. Novelty wakes up your brain and makes you pay more attention.
5. Schedule a “Do-Nothing Day (DND)”
I have found this one to be particularly effective for me, but it’s hard to do!
Most of us believe we need to be productive every day. But this can lead to chronic fatigue and a feeling of never being able to catch up.
It’s not easy to schedule a DND. Most likely you’ll have to cancel some events, put off doing some of the things on your to-do list, and let some other things go. You may worry that if you go through with it, you’ll fall behind.
In most cases, however, the opposite is true. If you grant yourself a “true” DND where you don’t have to do anything—in other words, you can lay around all day if you like and take five naps—you will feel energized and restored the next day, thus being able to get more done.
This happens for me every time. If I allow myself a real DND, I always feel better and can do more in a shorter amount of time the next day.
So don’t worry. Try giving yourself a DND at least once a month and see how it works for you.