We have a pandemic in our business world, and that is professionals who are constantly fatigued. And if you’re reading this post, you’ve probably caught this bug for which there is no vaccine.
At work, the simplest tasks take it all out of you. You get to the office in the morning ready to tackle the day, only to have your eyelids closing on you by 11am. You can’t participate in client meetings the way you would like to, because you just feel so drained. You rely on 3, 4….(5?) cups of coffee daily for any chance at crossing anything off your to-do list, or not putting your audience to sleep with your presentation.
After dragging your feet through the work day, you finally make it home to just crash on the couch, not even able to enjoy the evening with your family or make a healthy dinner. You’d think that your exhaustion would allow you to fall, and stay asleep with ease, but when you finally get in bed, your eyelids jolt open (for the first time all day!). You spend the evening staring at the ceiling, tossing and turning knowing tomorrow you’ll be a zombie, stuck in the same cycle all over again.
This exhaustion-lack of sleep cycle is definitely a pandemic in our workplace. Many of the clients who enter my MINDPEAK program experienced these same challenges. Their lack of energy was keeping them from being productive at work, enjoying time with their families and friends, and living a healthy lifestyle. And I know many of you feel the same.
But what can you do about it? Quit your job, go live on an island in Tahiti, and spend your days relaxing in the sun and your evenings sleeping peacefully? Wouldn’t that be nice. Although it seems like you’re doomed to the fate of pure exhaustion until retirement, this doesn’t have to be the case. I’ve worked with even the most tired and overworked professionals to help them improve their energy levels so they could be more productive during their workday, and have enough left in the tank to enjoy time with their families once they got home. They went from feeling like a zombie all day long to feeling clear, with improved mood and sharper focus. And with the following tips, you can too.
Your overall energy relies on several different underlying physiological processes in the body. Meaning, if any of these are off, you’ll have trouble sleeping, experience energy dips and crashes throughout your day, or just have an overall feeling of constant fatigue. Here are 3 tips that I use with my clients to ensure these processes are running smoothly so they have good quality sleep, and sustained energy all day long.
- Fix your gut: I will die on this mountain: the gut is at the root of all things health and wellbeing, including your energy! Not only is your gut responsible for digesting and absorbing the very nutrients that your body uses as building blocks for energy production itself (like carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and minerals), but your gut can actually have a huge impact on the quality of your sleep. It probably goes without saying, insomnia (probably another pandemic in our working society…but that’s a topic for another day) can be a major contributor to low energy. I mean, not sleeping at night will definitely have you refilling your coffee cup several times throughout the entire next day (not me speaking from experience…). Studies are showing that a negative change to your gut microbiome (the bacterial make-up of your gut) is correlated with negative changes to your sleep (Anderson et al., 2017). This may in part be due to the ability of these bacteria to synthesize hormones and neurotransmitters crucial to the regulation of sleep like serotonin and melatonin, and its ability to regulate our immune system which can also impact our sleep quality and quantity (Chen et al., 2011; Raison et al., 2010).
- Increase protein intake: This is one of those skills I help almost every single one of my clients to build, consuming adequate amounts of protein. Most people when they hear protein think, “but I’m not a weightlifter, why do I need protein?” Short answer, a lot of reasons, but to stay on topic here, protein can impact our energy levels throughout the day. One thing that really disrupts energy is a blood glucose and insulin spike and subsequent crash. This happens when we consume too many high glycemic carbohydrates, like the ones commonly found in the Western Style breakfast (think: cereals, muffins, croissants, bagels, pancakes, waffles….you name it). Protein, however, has been shown to have a stabilizing effect on blood sugar levels, keeping them from rising and falling abruptly and regulating energy levels throughout the day (Parker et al., 2002). Feel like you don’t consume the “Standard American” breakfast, so that can’t be the cause of your energy spikes and crashes? Well, if you’re reading this, it’s likely that you’re pretty stressed. And what does stress do? It increases blood sugar, and therefore contributes to the “crash” shortly thereafter (even without the donuts and glass of OJ!). Protein again, helps to regulate this effect (Kresser, 2019).
- Win the morning: your energy levels throughout your day, and your sleep quality at night depend on your morning routine. If you’re like most busy and stressed professionals, your mornings are hectic. You get out of bed and the sprint begins: get dressed, get the kids up, make everyone (but yourself) breakfast, make sure all lunches are packed and homework has made their way into the backpack, and that everyone gets on the bus on time. Then you run out the door yourself, stopping in the Starbucks drive thru line to pick up your latte and a muffin just barely getting to the office on time. Safe to say, this type of morning routine isn’t necessarily one that’s setting you up for energy-success. I help the clients in my MINDPEAK program to Win the Morning with a simple, easily actionable check list of simple tweaks they can make to their morning to ensure sustained energy, improved sleep, and not to mention a little less stress. This checklist is designed specifically for busy professionals in a way that fits into their busy and hectic lifestyle. No long meditation, 30 minute journaling, and 2 hour workout necessary. To get this exact checklist that I use with my clients, download your FREE copy here.
One of the clients in my MINDPEAK program managed a start-up. She was always “on call” and therefore, always exhausted. She felt like she was doomed to the fate of always feeling tired. Until the start-up was up and running, she had no choice but to be a zombie. When we started working together, we determined that she had some health concerns as it relates to her gut. We worked her through my 3R approach to gut healing, and by the second phase she had already noticed a huge difference in her energy levels. She no longer came home and crashed into bed, instead she had energy to cook a nice dinner and even pack a lunch for the next day. She was able to make it through a workout without feeling like she was running her body into the ground. And, her increased energy levels helped her to feel more resilient to the stresses of managing a startup, allowing her to be in a better mood and “deal with” all the stress that came up for her throughout her days.
Although it seems to be the case, constant fatigue and energy crashes are not normal. Imagine how much more productive you could be during your workday if you didn’t feel the weight of the world on your eyelids every morning around 11am. Imagine how many more projects you could take on, and finish, if you woke up every morning feeling well rested, with this sustained energy lasting through 5pm. Imagine how much enjoyable your evenings with family could be if you came home from work with some energy left in the tank, so that you could play with your kids, or cook a healthy dinner to enjoy with your entire family. This type of transformation is one that I see all the time with the clients in my MINDPEAK program once we work together to improve their underlying physiology to increase their energy levels by implementing some of the above tips.
If you’re a busy professional and you’re ready to have more energy, better sleep, and improve your overall productivity, you might be a great fit for my MINDPEAK program. To find out if you’d be a good fit, sign up for a free 30 minute coaching session here. Don’t forget to get your free PDF: win the morning checklist here.
References
Anderson, J. R., Carroll, I., Azcarate-Peril, M. A., Rochette, A. D., Heinberg, L. J., Peat, C., Steffen, K., Manderino, L. M., Mitchell, J., & Gunstad, J. (2017). A preliminary examination of gut microbiota, sleep, and cognitive flexibility in healthy older adults. Sleep Medicine, 38, 104–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2017.07.018
Chen, C. Q. (2011). Distribution, function and physiological role of melatonin in the lower gut. World Journal of Gastroenterology, 17(34), 3888. https://doi.org/10.3748/wjg.v17.i34.3888
Kresser, M. C. S. (2019, June 18). 5 Reasons You May Need More Protein—Even on a Paleo Diet. Chris Kresser. https://chriskresser.com/5-reasons-you-may-need-more-protein-even-on-a-paleo-diet/
Parker, B., Noakes, M., Luscombe, N., & Clifton, P. (2002). Effect of a High-Protein, High–Monounsaturated Fat Weight Loss Diet on Glycemic Control and Lipid Levels in Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Care, 25(3), 425–430. https://doi.org/10.2337/diacare.25.3.425
Raison, C. L., Rye, D. B., Woolwine, B. J., Vogt, G. J., Bautista, B. M., Spivey, J. R., & Miller, A. H. (2010). Chronic Interferon-Alpha Administration Disrupts Sleep Continuity and Depth in Patients with Hepatitis C: Association with Fatigue, Motor Slowing, and Increased Evening Cortisol. Biological Psychiatry, 68(10), 942–949. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.04.019