Some people will tell you “Just have a cup of coffee” when you are feeling tired. This may help for a short while, but the coffee only masks whatever underlying issues you may be having.
You may not feel a connection to your work like you once did. You may not be getting enough sleep. There are many reasons why you may be struggling with your energy level at work.
The key is to look for the underlying issues.
Last week 3 pm struck and I had hit a wall. I literally couldn’t even see straight.
I knew something wasn’t right. Usually I can work late into the day without feeling tired at all.
Then I realized that I hadn’t taken my short walk. I was so busy trying to get stuff accomplished that I forgot my walk.
I jumped up and went for my short walk, but it was too late. My routine was thrown out of whack and I never recovered.
Your “You” Time
Too often, you probably forget to make time for yourself. You don’t take the time to process your thoughts and feelings. You are too busy just trying to get everything done at work that you need to do for the day.
I used to hit the 3 pm wall all the time. Now it’s an infrequent occurrence. Most days, I have enough energy to get everything that I want to done. That’s because I looked at why my energy levels crashed and burned around that 3 pm mark. By taking that short walk, I reenergize both physically and mentally.
Finding time to process your thoughts and emotions is vital to keeping a positive mindset and staying energized at work.
Here are 5 methods you can use to help keep your energy at a high level all day. You should try to use these methods on a daily and weekly basis. Working on your daily mindset is probably the biggest impact you can have on bringing more energy to your work.
1. Gratitude Journal
Keep a daily gratitude journal. This will allow you to focus on the positive experiences in your life. Jot down 3 positive experiences that happen to you at the end of each day.
2. Exercise
Find a way to move your body every single day. You can play your favorite song and dance like a wild person around your home. You can go for a bike ride or just take a simple walk. Even doing some simple stretching exercises will help. Exercise will help you increase the endorphins to your brain, which energizes your whole body.
3. Active Relaxation
Before your day starts, focus on your breath for 5 minutes. This Active Relaxation will allow you to connect with your thoughts and notice how they boost or subtract from your energy levels.
You can also take the time to check in with yourself before each major task. When you take one minute to just see what thoughts are popping up, you move from fear to joy. This helps you make sure you’re in a positive frame of mind and at your utmost capacity for creativity.
4. Give Help (Make someone else happy)
Try to offer someone help every single day. You might give away a free consultation or offer a helping hand to someone who could use your help. Try to do this because it just makes you feel so good to help someone. If you aren’t feeling energized by helping a certain person, then feel free to find someone else who is more appreciative and can give you what you need.
5. Ask for Help (Allow someone to make you happy)
We are not in this world alone. We are here to help and support each other. Try to ask for help a few times a week. It might be an introduction to someone that can help your career or just a quick question. It’s amazing how helpful and wonderful people are if you give them the opportunity.
The Key
Apply at least two of these ideas every single day for 30 days. If you can turn this action into a habit you’ll do wonders for your energy levels.
Don’t just look at what energizes you at work. Look at your home life as well and put these tools into practice there. By incorporating a few ideas into your own life you can create a system that works great for you.
Your Turn
What do you do to stay energized at work?
* This blog post was sponsored by SpareFoot Self-storage.
“SpareFoot is the worlds largest, simplest and best marketplace for self-storage.” Thank you SpareFoot for supporting work happiness.
* Image courtesy of gregory.ackland
Hi Karl,
These are great tips. Now that I’m feeling all inspired, I’m going to get my shoes on and go for a walk (as soon as I finish writing this comment and finish my tea)–before I sit down to write.
I’ll also add that helping someone doesn’t require you to take on a major project; it can be a small action or gesture. By the way, if you want lots of inspiration or ideas for random acts of kindness and ways of helping others, check out a website called DailyGood (with a dot and an org after it).
Hi Sue,
Exactly! Helping someone, even doing something small, is a great way to bring energy back to your day. I’ll check out DailyGood. Thanks!
Love these tips! I work from home, but can definitely see ways to incorporate these there, too. One thing I do to stay energized is set a timer and focus on work for 40 minutes at a time, then take about a 10-minute break. This keeps me from burning out in front of the computer too quickly and allows me to re-energize once an hour.