Focus : Intensity : Reflection : Energy
Ultimately the best intentions, the greatest plan and awesome skills will count for little if you don’t have the energy to make things happen.
Here are a few suggestions to develop and sustain your energy levels – and just feel better!
DIET
Healthy food can taste great and you can exercise your creativity while cooking.
- make vegetables a major component of your diet and aim for a variety of colours
- reduce your consumption of foods high in fat and sugar (ie both together; it is this combination rather than individual ingredients which causes most harm)
- reduce your intake of carbohydrates which can cause spikes and troughs in blood sugar levels, leading to tiredness and possible longer-term diabetes
- consider intermittent fasting (5:2 diet) which can lower levels of harmful body fat
- be mindful; make eating an experience rather than something that you do while doing something else. Place quality over quantity.
EXERCISE
- double your heart rate for at least 20 minutes, 3 times per week
- build exercise into your daily routine rather than make it an ‘add-on’; walk or cycle to work, take the stairs, get off the train or bus a stop early or park further from the office and walk, move while you watch tv
- resistance training (weights etc) is the best for building (and maintaining) muscle density and strength and has the added bonus that calories continue to be burned in the hours following training
- pressed for time, follow this 7-minute, no equipment-required, whole body workout: http://goo.gl/LW7X2
- some people obtain substantial benefits from HIT (High Intensity Training) in as little as 10 minutes per week. More at the BBC website: http://goo.gl/uDzWN
SLEEP
- begin by watching Arianna Huffington’s short TED talk on sleep: http://goo.gl/7NVrNh
- develop a sleep schedule that is predictable and repetitive, going to sleep and waking at the same time every day
- avoid bright lights close to bedtime, including TV and computer and tablet screens (also, install a utility like f.lux which will adapt your display to the time of day: http://goo.gl/EbpLsQ)
- lower your body temperature before going to sleep (a warm bath or shower helps because your body temperature decreases when coming into contact with cooler air immediately afterwards)
- purge your bedroom of distractions. Don’t read, watch television, use social media etc in bed. Create an association in your mind between bed and sleep.
MEDITATION
- watch Andy Puddicumbe at TED – All it takes is 10 mindful minutes
- read his book: Get Some Headspace: 10 minutes can make all the difference
- watch this video on how to meditate
This is an enormous area. For a stimulating and practical guide to restoring vitality and maximizing energy, read Dr John Briffa’s book: A Great Day at the Office. You may also find this NY Times article informative.[1]
Before you close this page, why not make some positive commitments on what you are going to do to improve your energy levels. Start small with one change. Set some reminders in your calendar.