Pretty much all of us are familiar with that afternoon slump. If you regularly feel your eyelids drooping halfway through the work day, or can’t stop yourself reaching for cups of coffee just to stay alert - you’re by no means the only one. It’s totally natural to feel ups and downs in your energy levels throughout the day.
In recent years, brands have tried to capitalise on our fluctuating energy levels by selling us all manner of “energy boosting” products. While these may provide a quick fix in a truly critical moment, the best way to improve energy levels throughout the day is to stick to natural methods of managing your metabolism. Here are 10 completely natural ways to boost your energy levels and keep you feeling perked up throughout the day.
1. Improve Sleep Hygiene
Sleep plays an absolutely critical role in just about every aspect of our health, including regulating our energy levels throughout the day. The amount of sleep one needs to feel refreshed varies from person to person, although doctors recommend aiming for at least 7 hours per night to ensure feeling well-rested throughout the day. Sleep quality can be improved by forming a regular nighttime routine, avoiding screens before going to bed, and making sure to wind down and relax before hitting the hay.
2. Eat a Solid Breakfast
The energy we consume straight after we wake up has a big effect on how our energy levels are maintained throughout the day. While foods like cereals are marketed as breakfast food, more often than not they are packed full of artificially added sugar that provides a quick boost of energy, which eventually runs out and causes a crash in energy levels later in the day. The best breakfasts for maintaining consistent energy are those with slow-release calories. Foods like oats, porridge, and chickpea-packed hummus release their energy slowly throughout the day, preventing those dreaded midday slumps.
3. Keep Moving Throughout the Day
Moving throughout the day helps to keep the body engaged, reducing the urge to slump down into the sofa and take a nap. If your job requires you to sit in front of a computer or remain in the same place all day, adding some dynamic movement to your work day can help boost energy levels. Experiment with standing desks and walking meetings to naturally keep up your blood circulation and fight off fatigue.
4. Focus On Stress Reduction
Stress has negative impacts on just about every aspect of our mental and physical health - and energy levels are no exception to this. Lowering stress levels will help to improve overall metabolic function and aid sleep, leading to better rest and more consistent energy levels throughout the day. Practises such as mindfulness, yoga, and meditation can be a great path towards counteracting the sources of stress that pop up in day to day life.
5. Cut Out Toxins
Consuming toxins such as alcohol, nicotine, or too much caffeine can seriously mess with our bodies’ ability to regulate energy levels. Toxins such as these regularly interfere with our sleeping habits, and coincide with poor health choices that take a toll on our metabolic rates. While everyone is bound to have a vice or two, cutting out as many harmful toxins as possible from your daily life is sure to see a boost in your overall energy levels.
6. Drink Plenty of Water
Drinking enough water is the number one key to making sure your body can properly function throughout the day. Dehydration can easily sneak up on us, and leave us feeling drained and fatigued without us realising the cause. Keeping a bottle of fresh water on hand encourages regular hydration, helping your body to maintain a healthy metabolic rate and fight off dips in energy.
7. Stay Connected
Staying connected to others is shown to have positive impacts on both our mental and physical health. Making sure to connect with others helps us to avoid feelings of loneliness and isolation that can lead to stress and lowered levels of metabolic function.
8. Maintain a Routine
Maintaining a consistent routine day to day helps to train the body to maintain consistent levels of energy. Going to bed and waking up at a regular time each day, eating meals at roughly the same time, and catching regular exercise all ensure that the body can begin to build a rhythm for itself that it can stick to throughout the day.
9. Catch Sunlight
Getting enough exposure to light throughout the day helps sync up our minds and bodies, making sure our bodies feel alert and energetic while the sun is up. Try to work in spaces that provide ample sunlight whenever possible, and go on a walk outside whenever you start to feel yourself heading towards a dip in energy.
Feeling drained and fatigued throughout the day can have a truly negative impact on our emotional wellbeing and productivity at work, but these 9 simple tricks are quick and 100% natural ways of boosting energy levels to keep you feeling at your best!
