It’s no secret that we all want to be more productive and feel more energetic. However, you may find it challenging to achieve this. Especially if you are running your own business. Our energy and productivity can be affected by multiple factors. Such as the stress associated with owning a company.
I’m sure you’re aware of the concept that making minor changes to your lifestyle and daily routine can compound and eventually help you to yield great results — in terms of energy, creativity, productivity, and overall success.
In this article, we’re going to go through a few minor adjustments that you can make to your daily routine. These will have a massive impact on your energy levels.
#1 Breathing
Now, this one may seem obvious. However, it’s something that the majority of us do not take seriously enough. Oxygen is obviously the most important thing for human life. However, most of us (me included) rarely take the time to focus on our breathing pattern. Which is most likely very shallow. The problem with shallow breathing is quite obvious. We’re unable to intake adequate amounts of oxygen, which can have a damaging effect on how we feel during our day.
To avoid feeling sluggish, unfocused, and unproductive during your day, first, start by breathing deeply and slowly. One method that works well is breathing in for 5 seconds, hold on for 3 seconds, and release for 5 seconds. Do this for a few minutes and feel how your body responds — you’ll become more relaxed, feel grounded, and become focused.
Although obvious, you must take time to focus on your breathing to reduce your stress, and more importantly, boost your energy.
#2 Avoid Junk Food
To optimize your energy, you must remove all junk food from your diet — including sugary soda drinks, candy, refined carbohydrates such as white bread, and processed meats.
It can be hard for many people to give up on certain junk foods as they can be extremely addictive. However, when we consume these foods, our bodies take a massive hit by trying to deal with all of the junk contained in these foods — our liver and kidneys begin to struggle, stress hormones are released, blood sugar problems are created — making us feel sluggish. It’s never healthy to feel tired or sluggish after you eat. The “post-lunch slump” is not normal, despite many people accepting this as an inevitable part of their daily lives.
So, to boost your energy, you must eliminate all processed, refined foods from your diet and begin to be more conscious about what you’re eating.
#3 Nutrient-Dense Foods
Once you’ve followed the previous step, you need to look at the type of foods you’re going to consume regularly. It would help if you tried to avoid “empty calories” as much as possible. Instead, you should try and make minor changes to your diet with a range of nutrient-dense foods.
Examples of easy to find, nutrient-dense foods include:
- Leafy green vegetables (including salads, broccoli, green beans): full of essential trace minerals.
- Sweet potatoes: full of minerals and packed with Vitamin A.
- Grass-fed meats: rich in protein, essential amino acids, iron, Vitamin B12.
- Wild-caught fish: a fantastic source of thyroid-boosting selenium and omega-3.
- Avocados: rich in potassium, vitamin E, and trace minerals.
- Nutritional yeast: a complete range of energy-boosting B-vitamins.
By consuming more nutrient-dense foods, you’re going to feel way more energized, as your body will have all of the nutrients it needs to function correctly.
#4 Time Management
How you organize your time can have a significant impact on how energetic you feel throughout the day. One of the best and most straightforward methods of optimizing your energy through proper time management is to “eat the frog” — aka, complete the biggest task first.
Write down your to-do list and find which task is the most difficult, time-consuming, and mentally challenging. Once you’ve found it, tackle it head-on. And leave all other, smaller jobs until later. By doing this, you’ll be avoiding the mental weight that occurs when you put-off big tasks — which causes you to feel weighed-down, stressed and therefore affects your energy levels.
#5 Think Positively
This may seem cliché, but there’s more to this than just proactively “thinking positively”. Negative thoughts can weigh on our emotional, mental, and physical wellbeing. This is why we must be able to address negative thought patterns as soon as we notice them.
The minor change that I want you to make is to remix any negative thoughts into a positive thought. Once you notice yourself thinking negatively, instantly switch that thought into a positive one. For example, if you begin to worry about whether clients will hire you, start to think about the abundance of opportunity you have, and how that only the best clients deserve your hard work and skillset.
This is a minor change that can be applied on an as-needed basis. However, it’s a powerful way to reprogram your mind, which, in turn, will boost your energy ten-fold — as you won’t be affected by the mental and physical stress associated with negative thinking.
Less Is More
Energy is the natural currency of humans — not money. Energy, and more importantly, the energy one has, is in direct correlation with how successful a person can become. By making minimal changes to your daily routine, you can massively increase the amount of energy you have — meaning you’ll be able to be the best entrepreneur you can be.
For more tips on how to improve your life as an entrepreneur, check out the latest posts on our blog.
Written by Lewis James