Last updated on October 3rd, 2019 at 07:13 am
You don’t need to do a green juice fast and meditate to have more energy and focus – these 7 tiny healthy habits can help.
Did you ever wake up thinking:
“Today I wanna feel like crap, let everything overwhelm me and then go to sleep.”
Well, I bet there are some people who actually might say this, but you aren’t one of them.
You want to have more energy throughout the day, be productive, and have the capacity to live life even after work. Then when the day is done, you’re proud of the things you’ve accomplished and
To be honest with you, lately I’ve been none of the above. For a few weeks I felt lethargic and somewhat overwhelmed with everything I “have” to do. Sleep? What is sleep? Food? Do lattes count? Exercise? Well I did take the stairs this one time.
I needed to get back to my basics. To the things that I know make me feel awesome when I actually do them.
So, last week I finally had enough of feeling like I don’t even have a physical body, like I’m drained. I wrote down my little list and started working on it right away (which is also something I’ve struggled with for the longest time).
And tada – magic. Within a day, I started feeling more clear-headed, energetic and overall better.
I even lost a pound (which hasn’t happened in a while, not for the lack of trying). So even if you want to lose some weight and you just can’t do it – these tips might help you.
How To Have More Energy & Focus
1. Eat A Clean Diet & More Plants
You won’t have a ton of energy or look great if you don’t eat a healthy diet. Mainly because you need the nutrients to feed your brain, your muscles, your entire body.
Plants like fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds are shown to reduce inflammation and are the nutrient-densest foods in the world.
Thus if you eat them more often you’ll be less fatigued and you’ll be giving your body what it needs to perform better & be healthier.
To keep a clean, nourishing diet, I highly recommend cooking more often. If you don’t have the time to look for recipes or go grocery shopping use a meal-kit delivery service like Sun Basket. The ingredients they provide are organic, the meals are delicious, healthy, easy and quick to make. If you want to give them a try, you can get $35 off your first three orders here.
2. Wake up at the same time, even on the weekend
I love how most health and weight loss articles out there include:
“Get some sleep and reduce stress.”
“Mkay…how?” (this is you)
“I don’t know…Why do you ask? I’m only telling you what to do.” (that’s the person who wrote the article)
Great, thanks.
Now I’m gonna take a chance and tell you, not only to get the 7.5 hours of sleep you need every night but also to wake up at the same time.
This makes it easier to get into a routine and start getting better sleep. Which means you’ll have more energy and be able to stay focused and think clearly.
If you wake up one day at 6, the other at 8, you’ll either feel tired throughout the day or won’t be able to sleep in the evening.
Another important tip here is to do something realistic. Trust me, I’ve tried way too many times to wake up at 5 am & finish a million things before everyone’s awake. I really wanted it to work. Result: I started begging for a nap at 9 am. So 7.00 am is a lot more humane to me.
Related: How To Wake Up Early Without Feeling Tired
3. Sit up straight & stretch your arms up
Now this will also boost your mood, improve your posture and even your confidence. We don’t realize it most of the time, but posture has a major impact on the chemistry of our bodies. Rumor has it, sitting up straight might even help with depression and anxiety.
Related: 8 Super Simple Ways To Reduce Neck & Shoulder Pain
4. Do 5-10 minutes of exercise every morning, right after you wake up
Morning workouts are among my favorite things and something I think everyone should do. It has truly changed my days for the better.
Exercise in the morning is an amazing energy booster, it will help clear your mind and get your body ready for the day. Don’t skip it.
Related: 7 Morning Yoga Routines To Get You Out Of Bed
5. Disconnect
I don’t know about you, but one of my biggest energy vampires is being on my phone and checking messages and status updates. It stresses me out.
Just disconnect.
I did this last year with Facebook, WhatsApp and my emails (the three things I used most often).
In the beginning it was the hardest thing ever – I was used to checking these things probably every hour, if not more often.
After a couple of days, I didn’t miss it at all and was way more focused and a lot happier. Plus I was able to do so many things that were important to me. Which really boosted my mood and my confidence.
Today I check my emails/whatsapp once a day and facebook probably once a month. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done.
6. Read or listen to a book
So what are you gonna do when you’re not on social media and checking your email?
Well, a good way to distract yourself from all stress is reading a book or listening to an audiobook. Something that can lift your spirit and make you feel happier.
This will help you sleep better in the evening and it will help you relax, so you can recharge and have more energy the next day.
I love The Alchemist. It’s one of the most inspiring stories I’ve read. Whenever I feel down or confused and don’t know what I’m doing, where I’m going – I read a little bit and it immediately makes it all better.
7. Have a plan
Having a plan can take so much stress off of you. And stress as you might know is not good for your health + it wastes A LOT of energy. Not to mention that it’s harder to think clear and stay focused when you’re stressed out.
Whether it’s deciding upfront what you’re gonna wear, what you’re gonna eat, which workout you’ll do & when you’ll do it – when you decide upfront – you’ll be more focused and won’t waste your energy on decisions that aren’t actually important.
You’ve probably heard about decision fatigue and well, having a plan will get rid of this.
I know for me when I had this workout plan I stuck to it. I did my workouts at the same time every morning, I was less stressed and didn’t spend time overthinking whether this is the right workout to do or not. Which otherwise I do often. I simply made a decision upfront and followed through.
But here’s the key: I was willing to try and I didn’t have regrets. If I didn’t enjoy a workout – I’d make a note and not repeat it.
Things won’t always go as planned, but to me even if 50% go as planned it’s still worth it.
There. These were the 7 small things you can do every day to have more energy and focus. Now, because I’m always looking for ways to get better, I’m curious if there are things you do for more energy?
