How to Boost Your Energy & Results
"Every decision you make about eating, moving, and sleeping affects your energy and health." - Tom Rath, Eat Move Sleep
Your energy level exerts a powerful impact on your ability to be productive and happy. Whether in your professional or personal life, and no matter who you are or what you do, your ability to produce results is largely determined by your energy. If you have low energy, you just can’t do anything as well or for as long as if you have high energy. And with low energy, you won’t engage in the activities you enjoy, making you less happy.
So one of the keys to sustainable high performance and an active, happy life is learning how to generate, maintain, and recover your energy throughout the day.
By making improvements in five key areas (movement, nutrition, sleep, rest, and energy/activity alignment), you can dramatically boost your ability to perform, while feeling better and enjoying your life more.
Movement & Exercise
Movement is more than exercise. Yes, you should get 30+ minutes of Zone 2 or higher heart rate exercise each day. (Zone 2 is 65% of your maximum heart rate, and a shortcut to your maximum heart rate is 220 minus your age. So, for example, I’m 64, so my maximum heart rate is 156, and Zone 2 for me is 65% of that, or 101 beats/minute.) Plus, you should have some exercise each week that gets you to your maximum heart rate to improve your health and longevity. And of course, you should have 2 or more strength workouts each week.
But that’s not enough for optimal energy, productivity, and health. Even working out 7 days a week wouldn’t be enough to keep you healthy and energetic. You also need to be moving frequently throughout the day. A 45 minute cardio session doesn’t offset 10 hours of sitting. Research says that your metabolism starts to shut down after just 20 minutes of sitting. Once I learned that alarming fact, I began a habit of setting an alarm on my watch for 15 minutes every time I sit down, and when it goes off, I stand up and get some form of movement, then restart it again. At these 15 minute intervals throughout the day, I’ll include some dynamic stretching, pushups, squats, dumbbell sets, or just walk for a minute. This is also why I walk around the room during all phone calls and stand (using a standing desk) for all Zoom meetings. As they say, “Sitting is the new smoking.”
Evolution caused us to need this frequent, near-continuous movement with occasional bursts of activity and strength. Since the dawn of humanity and throughout the Hunter-Gatherer (which accounts for 99% of human history), that’s what life was like: we were constantly walking, bending, moving, and carrying things, with periodic bursts of high intensity (attacking a mammoth) and strength activities (carrying back the mammoth meat). That’s what our bodies are designed for. Too many people today sit around all day, getting little to no movement, which makes them more tired. To combat that, they consume caffeine and sugar to get a quick boost, but that actually results in them being even more tired. And when you’re tired, you don’t want to move or exercise, and thus, the downward spiral in energy and health continues.
The truth is that movement is one of the most powerful tools for increasing daily energy. Top keynote speakers Tony Robbins and Brendon Burchard always bounce on a mini-trampoline for 5 minutes before going on stage, specifically to increase their energy levels. You will always feel more energetic and alert after movement. It improves circulation, delivers oxygen to your brain, and releases endorphins that keep you sharp and motivated. It also helps manage stress and enhances sleep quality, both of which directly impact productivity.
"If we dutifully hit the gym for an hour in the morning and then sit for the rest of the day, our DNA suffers. Although exercise is awesome (and super important!), we need to MOVE more. Like, a lot more. The demands of standing, walking, and running have literally shaped the entire human body from head to toe…Humans are built to stand, walk, and run. We are not built to sit, however—even though sitting has become humanity’s preferred form of non-movement." - Katy Bowman, Move Your DNA
Nutrition
Your energy is also impacted by what you eat. If you’re running on caffeine, carbs, and processed foods, you can expect energy crashes and brain fog. This is why most people experience a severe drop in energy and brain fog after lunch: they ate a carb-heavy meal. This crash happens because carbs raise blood glucose quickly, especially refined carbs (sugar, bread, pasta, etc.). This triggers a surge in insulin, which helps move all that glucose into your cells. The insulin spike often overshoots, leading to a blood sugar crash (reactive hypoglycemia) about 1–2 hours later. That crash leads to fatigue, mental fog, irritability, and cravings.
On the other hand, a diet rich in whole foods, protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates provides steady, sustained energy. Hydration throughout the day is also key, since dehydration leads to fatigue and reduced mental clarity. Once I switched to a very low-carb nutrition plan (my goal is to stay under 35 Net Carbs per day), I no longer have the post-lunch slump and have noticeably higher energy levels all day long.
"The reality is that eating unprocessed, clean, natural foods—in a pattern that keeps you energized, symptom free, and with optimal biomarkers—is the right diet for you." - Casey Means, MD, Good Energy
Sleep
Your body and brain recharge while you sleep. Skimping on sleep doesn’t just leave you tired, it reduces your ability to focus, solve problems, and stay productive. It also causes a host of health problems. The first step to improving your sleep is to acknowledge that sleep is critically important, and to make it a priority in your life. Most adults need 7-9 hours of sleep time. We cover over 30 best practices for optimizing your sleep in our Sleep lesson in Happiful, but let’s start with the most critical ones:
Set a consistent bedtime and wake-up time.
Don’t consume caffeine within 10 hours of bedtime.
Avoid meals or alcohol within 3 hours of bedtime.
No screens for at least an hour before bed.
Keep your room cool and dark.
“Sleep is, after all, at the center of our overall vitality. When we sleep well, we feel better, and vice versa. We may be what we eat, but also, to be sure, we are how we sleep.” - Ariana Huffington
Rest and Recovery
Constant work leads to burnout. Just like athletes need rest days to perform at their best, your brain and body need recovery time to maintain peak productivity. The Ultradian Cycle says that humans naturally go through 90-minute periods of high energy followed by a need for rest. Importantly, rest is not passive scrolling or consuming online content. Research shows that these online activities do not provide you with the rest and reset that you need, and instead actually raise your cortisol and stress levels. To actually refresh your body and mind, engage in activities that nourish you: take a walk, do light exercise, spend time in nature, or engage in a conversation. Even just standing at your window looking outdoors will work.
You also need full mental recovery periods in addition to the short breaks throughout the day. Taking at least one full day off each week and 2 or more full weeks off each year helps you recharge at a deeper level.
Align Your Activities with Your Natural Energy Cycles
Most people experience recurring natural highs and lows in energy throughout the day. Some are most productive in the morning, while others have an energy peak in the afternoon. Schedule your exercise and most important and challenging tasks for your personal peak energy times, and schedule errands or admin tasks for lower-energy periods.
This may seem obvious, but most people have not examined – much less tracked – their energy levels at different times of day. Track yours for a week and see if you find a consistent pattern, and then you can align your activities with your energy levels.
Ready to Go Deeper?
If you want to learn more about exercise/movement, nutrition, sleep, tracking, and recovery as well as other important wellness practices, the Elevate Your Life section of the Be Happiful course gives you a complete blueprint for sustained energy, better health, and more happiness.
