Most people will work an extra 30 minutes more vs. using that 30 minutes on sleep, exercise or prepping healthy meals.  Raise your hand if that’s you.  <raising my hand, yep even me> Why?  Choosing to work feels, oh so much more productive.  And, we don’t feel guilty sharing (well actually bragging) that we pulled a longer day (or even night).

If I do that occasionally, no big deal.  But there’s been times I’ve been guilty of making the work choice way more often than I should.  Instead I needed to realize that cultivating those 30 minutes on sleep will ultimately save me time because I’ll have more effective and efficient productivity that day and the next day I “stole sleep from.”  Which means I can get more things done in the time I have.

Read on to learn how to improve your physical energy source.

Physical energy is the most basic energy source out of the four sources (i.e., spiritual, mental, physical, emotional).  And it’s the third most important to balance.  The critical need in this energy source, and yet least valued, is renewal.  Unlike machines, people are made to move rhythmically between work and rest.

Three critical behaviors serve this energy source the best: sleep, fitness and nutrition.

14 ways to improve your sleep and your physical energy

Other than eating & breathing, sleeping is the most significant source of recovery we can get.  So, let’s start there.

According to Gallup, 40% of people in the United States get less than the advocated 7 to 9 hours nightly.  When you get less sleep than you need, your brain’s prefrontal cortex gets less blood flow (less blood flow = less brain activity).  That’s important because your prefrontal cortex is where your ability to pay attention and make good judgements come from.  Less sleep also means less blood flow (=less brain activity) to your brain’s temporal lobes which impacts your memory, learning and temper.

In the end, you’ll be less efficient.  Which is a double whammy because you have even less time for sleep the next night if it takes you longer because you’re physically exhausted.

That’s us office folks.  Sleep is even more important if you have a job where someone’s life in your hands.  According to a 1994 study by the National Academy of Sciences, they studied the effects of sleep deprivation on their performance during continuous combat operations.   It determined that the lack of sleep negatively impacted their shooting accuracy significantly.  Here’s the summary of the hours of sleep vs. % of accuracy on the shooting range:

So while you may not be expected to have rifle accuracy on your job, the effects of accuracy and our productivity in our personal and professional life get the same impact.  If you add a poor diet and barely any exercise into the recipe, your energy and productivity are likely descending out of control rapidly.

Time to pick one or more of the following tips.

1. Take a magnesium supplement to sleep like a baby.

Due to soil depletion in our farming practices and higher consumption of processed foods, it’s estimated 80% of adults are magnesium deficient.  Key symptoms to know you’re deficient if you have constipation, leg cramps, insomnia, anxiety, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, fatigue and migraines.

To counteract, each night, take 300-450mg of magnesium citrate or magnesium glycinate.

2. Get musician quality earplugs if you want to sleep with your snoring spouse

This is embarrassing to say, but here goes.  I used to snore sometimes so loud that my husband can’t sleep.  My husband and I tried everything and weren’t willing to sleep apart like Kings and Queens (maybe that’s why they sleep apart?).  Then my ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat) doctor recommended my husband get custom made ear plugs, like musicians do.  It deadens the sound for certain snoring decibels but still allows you to hear a crying baby.  They cost about $100 but it’s well worth it since my husband and I like sleeping together.  If you or our partner have the same issue, call a local ENT or hearing doctor and ask for a referral.

Fast forward, once I was treated holistically for allergies, my snoring miraculously went away.  But for the 10 years before then, my husband needed earplugs for us to sleep together.

3. Expose yourself to sunlight early to set your circadian rhythm

Expose your skin and eyes to sunlight between 6am – 8:30am for at least 30 minutes, even on a cloudy day, to set your circadian rhythm.

4. Use a blue light blocker so you produce melatonin naturally to fall asleep and stay asleep

Smartphones and computer monitors emit a blue light so you can seem them even in the sunniest times of day.  However, the blue light confuses your brain that’s it’s nighttime and the body stops producing melatonin, the hormone that helps you fall asleep and stay asleep, which sets you up for a horrible array of symptoms the next day.  Instead utilize software that reduces the blue light.

For your iPhone, go to Settings > Display & Brightness > Night Shift and automate it for Sunset to Sunrise.

For your computer, download the free software called f.lux and configure it also for Sunset to Sunrise.  I love this because it slowly adjusts based on your location as the sun sets vs. a sudden change.

5. Stop drinking caffeine 8 – 14 hours before you sleep

Caffeine metabolizes faster in some people than others.  Experiment what hour to cut yourself off to see what works best for you.

6. Take a warm bath or shower 1 – 2 hours before you go to bed

Not right before you lay down.  You want to make sure though you give your body enough time to cool off and trigger sleep.

7. Think of your bedroom as a cave

Think of your bedroom as a cave, quiet, cool.  Set the A/C to 70F and wear warm socks if you need to.  Buy blackout hotel curtains (not room darkening ones).

8. Get an alarm clock with warm colored digits and preferably with a dimmer

Avoid alarm clocks with white, blue or green (cool colors) digits.  And keep the clock away from arms distance so you must get up instead of hitting snooze each time.

And, if you’ve been using your phone, stop! And if you aren’t but you kept it in your room, it’s time to let your phone grow up and get its own room for your sanity.  Go for a one week trial run and if you didn’t miss an emergency and you sleep better, great.

9. Eat sleep inducing foods 90 minutes before bed

Eat melatonin-rich foods like cherry juice or walnuts.

Have a warm drink.  Hot caffeine-free tea or warm milk because rich in in tryptophan, calcium & Vitamin D which are linked to improved sleep.  Also chamomile with lavender tea is recommended by my integrative/functional DR.

Eat high-casein dairy.  Casein is a slow-to-digest form of protein giving your muscles food to build at night and dairy has the amino acid tryptophan; eat up some organic cottage cheese or Greek yogurt.

10. Avoid sleep discouraging foods 3-hours before bed

Alcohol because it decreases the amount of time in your deepest sleep stage.  If you do drink, drink 1 cup of water for every serving of alcohol since dehydration is the key cause of a hangover.

Chocolate because of the caffeine.

Fried, fatty or spicy foods because it triggers indigestion & reflux.

11. Roll on a foam roller, tennis balls or other firm balls to de-stress your muscles nightly

12. Strategically nap (unless you suffer from insomnia)

I found a lot of studies that said napping was good and other’s that didn’t.  However, one study said that only those that suffer from insomnia shouldn’t nap.

NASA’s Fatigue Counter Measures Program found that a short nap of just 40-minutes improved performance by an average of 34% and alertness by 100%.  Anything longer than 40-minutes makes you feel tired than if they hadn’t napped at all and disrupts the nighttime sleep cycle.

13. Fall asleep to lullabies

Get a digital sound machine, play a white noise sound app or play soundscapes or lullabies. I’ve made a 1-hour playlist on Amazon Prime Music and have a Pandora station called Soundscapes & Lullabies that shuts off on a timer.

14. Aromatherapy your way to sleep

Use a sleeping essential oil (buy or make your own blend from oils on this page vs a single oil like lavender) in a diffuser.

p.s. Buy a high-quality oil.  Many our fake.  Oils I have found to be legit are Young Living, Rocky Mountain Oils, Plant Therapy and Edens Garden.

p.p.s. Make sure you clean your diffuser weekly with a microfiber then monthly with a touch of diluted rubbing alcohol or white vinegar.  Sounds laborious but it’s worth it to me for the benefits.

2 ways to improve your fitness and your physical energy

1. Exercise efficiently while being more effective

Start doing Circuit Training with HIIT (high intensity interval training) over steady-state cardio. Why?  Because with Circuit/HIIT, you can do an all-out heart-pumping and strength training exercise in 30 min a day vs. 60 of steady-state aerobics and get better results.

Circuit/HIIT also doesn’t forget your muscles.  Strength training is just as important as heart pumping workouts, especially after you turn 40.  Why?  Because every year after that you lose on average ½ pounds of muscle.  When you lose muscle, you age less gracefully and lose energy.

2. Forget exercising for good looks, do it for better memory, mood, focus and learning

All that said, I don’t exercise anymore regarding body weight or because it’s making my heart or lungs strong.  Those reasons never seemed to be motivating enough for me until I learned about the benefits to my brain that are too good to pass up such as:

• Increases the blood flow to your brain’s hippocampus, the part of your brain which makes memory
• Increases the blood flow to your brain’s temporal lobes, the part of your brain which helps you focus and learn
• Increases blood flow to your brain’s limbic system, the part of your brain which determines mood and bonding, which is why working out can reduce or prevent depression

Getting more energy and less fat is just icing on the cake now.  I like to think of exercise as preventive medicine that will help me age gracefully and keep me sharp as a tack.

8 ways to improve your nutrition and your physical energy

1. Drink half your body’s weight in water to maintain strength and speed

Dehydration significantly impacts your brain since your brain is 80% water.  If you’re dehydrated (urine is darker than lemonade), you’ll lose strength and speed.  Just 3% of dehydration will lose 10% of your muscles strength and 8% of it’s speed.

This is possibly the simplest and yet the most unappreciated source of physical energy renewal.  How much water?  Half of your body weight per day.

Carry a large insulated stainless steel water bottle so you’re more likely to drink your goal.

If you’re not a raving fan or just want a change it up occasionally, then add a little Peach Lemonade powder sweetened with Stevia.

2. Supercharge your water

Add ½ fresh lemon juice to your water.  If you do it only in the morning, it’ll help to alkalize your body so it can absorb more nutrients.

This also helps digestion and constipation because it tricks the liver into creating bile to help keep things moving smoothly.  It re-hydrates the body after a long night of sleeping.  Lastly, it gives you a healthy dose of vitamin C which stimulates your white blood cells.

3. Limit coffee to 3 cups (or 300mg caffeine) of organic brew to reduce dehydration and brain blood flow (brain activity)

Limit coffee to 3 cups of organic brew. If you drink more than 3 cups of coffee, it dehydrates you.  So, either reduce your consumption or replace with green tea (which has many benefits).

In addition, too much caffeine decreases blood flow to the brain, which is never good.

4. Step away from the diet soda to reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, fat storing insulin, corrosive teeth and depression

I beg you to stop!  I don’t care if it’s caffeine free or colorless.  There’s not one single benefit to it – only consequences.

Daily diet soda drinking:

• Increases your risk of metabolic syndrome by 36%
• Increases type 2 diabetes by 67%
• Triggers insulin sending your body into fat storage mode
• Nearly as corrosive to your teeth enamel as battery acid

Drinking 4+ cans a day:

• Increases depression by 30%

Step away from the diet soda and switch to La Croix sparkling water instead.  They have a lot of different flavors. It’s available at most grocery stores.  If it’s not sweet enough for you, then add Stevia liquid drops.

5. Feed your command center (aka brain) foods that make you smarter and happier

Feeding your command center (aka brain) chemical, processed food vs. real food is like working for the enemy and setting yourself up for failure.  Did you know that your brain consumes 20-25% of your calories?  You are what you eat AND you’re also what the animals you eat ate.

When you eat food that’s chemical and processed, then your body (intestines, liver, nasal passages) think it’s being harmed and inflame itself like an allergy response.  Your body is trying to heal but you’re putting your body into a persistent condition of emergency trying to restore your health.  Not the best use of your body’s energy.

Ideally eat 70% plant-based foods and 30% high-quality protein with healthy fats (e.g., avocados, coconut butter, nuts, olives, seeds) added in to restore your gut health, increase your energy and focus, reduce illness with weight loss as an added benefit.

The easiest way to start is to replace or supplement a meal with a green smoothie every day. I know you hear green and thick yuck.  I thought the same thing but learned over time there’s ways to make it taste great.  The trick is adding an overripe pear, banana, fresh lemon juice and almond or coconut butter.  I also add the Stevia liquid drops.  I blend this with kale, spinach and water or coconut milk.

Another easy option is to switch to organic when eating any of the dirty dozen fruits/veges that contain the most pesticides or don’t eat them. For example, strawberries showed 17 different pesticides.  More than 98% of strawberry samples, peaches, nectarines, and apples tested positive for at least one pesticide residue.

6. Feed your 2nd brain (aka gut) depending on your brain chemistry

If you feel depressed, have brain fog or feel lazy, it may not be just mental.  Food can affect many key brain neurotransmitters.  Here are two:

• Need serotonin?  You’ll feel happy/good when it’s up and irritable or even depressed when down. Did you know that 90% of the serotonin in your body is made in your gut and certain food help you create it?
  • Eat foods that make serotonin in your gut, so you’ll feel happy/good when it’s up and less irritable or depressed when it’s down. For example, sweet potatoes, hummus, apples, pears, peaches, blueberries, bananas, oranges, tangerines, grapes, figs, mangoes, pineapples and sugar-free dark chocolate.  Yum, I’m hungry just writing that!
• Need dopamine?  You’ll feel like a Type A high-achiever when it’s up and unfocused and unmotivated when it’s down. Again, did you know that certain foods help you create it?
  • Eat foods that make dopamine, so you’ll feel more energetic, focused (ideal if you have ADD/ADHD) and motivated. For example, beans, meat, eggs, nuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, broccoli, spinach and protein powders.

7. Supplement your way to success when necessary

• If you have leaky gut syndrome, food intolerances/allergies, poor joints, cellulite or a lowered immune system, drink 1-2 cups of high-quality bone broth per day with an added pinch of Himalayan salt.
• If you’re not eating > 5 fruit/vege servings a day, then take a high-quality multi-vitamin.
• Limit probiotics and expose yourself to eco-atmospheres, which is free!
  • There’s new studies coming out saying that probiotics may not be good since long-term use creates a mono-culture in the bacterial biome.  Use of probiotics or a digestive enzyme for a couple of weeks is reasonable after taking a round of antibiotics.
  • Are you living in a closed house, office or car every day?  Better to expose yourself to eco atmospheres.  Open your windows at home.  Or breath in as you garden, pet your animal or take a walk in nature.
• If you’re not eating fatty fish like salmon >3 times a week or <1 cup of walnuts or 4 TBSP of chia seeds per week, then take a high-quality omega 3 to reduce overall inflammation, about 1-2 grams per day balanced in EPA and DHA.
• Take Vitamin D, a steroid hormone, to naturally slow the aging of your bones, boost your immune system, reduce moodiness/depression and help you focus.  Adults should take 2,000-5,000 IU a day.  However, it’s best to ask your doctor to test so you know your baseline and what dosage you need.  For example, my husband needs 10,000 IU to maintain sufficient levels, whereas I only need 5,000 IU and yet I’m indoors way more than him.  Go figure.

8. Take supplements customized to your brain

Read Brain Warrior’s Way: Ignite Your Energy and Focus, Attack Illness and Aging, Transform Pain into Purpose or take the free Brain Health Assessment.  The author’s (Dr. Daniel Amen) states that you’re not stuck with the brain you have; you can make it better by using the program outlined in this book and they’ve proven it on thousands of patients.

Some of my family members have had brain scans at the Amen Clinics and some of us have self-diagnosed based on his books.  I can tell you that we’ve significantly improved conditions such as Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), Anxiety, Depression and ADHD with the use of supplements and zero medications.

Summarized, short version

1. Take a magnesium supplement to sleep like a baby
2. Get musician quality earplugs if you want to sleep with your snoring spouse
3. Expose yourself to sunlight early to set your circadian rhythm
4. Use a blue light blocker so you produce melatonin naturally to fall asleep and stay asleep
5. Stop drinking caffeine 8-14 hours before you sleep
6. Take a warm bath or shower 1-2 hours before you go to bed
7. Think of your bedroom as a cave
8. Get an alarm clock with warm colored digits and preferably with a dimmer
9. Eat sleep inducing foods 90 minutes before bed
10. Avoid sleep discouraging foods 3-hours before bed
11. Roll on a foam roller, tennis balls, baseballs or softballs to de-stress your muscles nightly
12. Unless you suffer from insomnia, don’t be afraid to strategically nap
13. Fall asleep to lullabies
14. Aromatherapy your way to sleep
15. Exercise efficiently while being more effective
16. Forget exercising for good looks, do it for better memory, mood, focus and learning
17. Drink half your body’s weight in water to maintain strength and speed
18. Supercharge your water
19. Limit coffee to 3 cups (or 300mg caffeine) of organic brew to reduce dehydration and brain blood flow (brain activity)
20. Step away from the diet soda to reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, fat storing insulin, corrosive teeth and depression
21. Feed your command center (aka brain) foods that make you smarter and happier
22. Feed your 2nd brain (aka gut) depending on your brain’s chemistry
23. Supplement your way to success when necessary
24. Take supplements customized to your brain

Do you lead others?  3 ways to increase your team’s physical energy

If you have the privilege of leading others and looking for higher employee engagement scores, first role model the behaviors above.  Next, here’s three other ways you can influence your team’s physical energy scores.

1. Have walking meetings to increase blood flow to the brain

2. Serve real food at meetings

Skip the donuts and other simple carbs.  Instead, bring healthy fat bombs or plant-based protein candy bars.

3. Assume your employees have an energizing personal life most nights and weekends

Studies show that working > 55 hours a week reduces focus by 27% and happiness by 21%.  Set your team up for success by allowing them to have time off during most nights and weekends.

Question: On a scale of 1-10, what’s your physical energy score? Which tip will you try out today to improve your score by 1-point? You can leave a comment below.