13+ Ways to Increase Your Energy to be More Productive & Earn More Money

by mandyythomas4, posted in Increasing Business Productivity, Make Extra Money

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Ways to Increase Your Energy to be More Productive & Earn More Money

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Struggling with Low Energy, Read On!

 

1) First Look at Your Digestion

Most people don’t think about their digestion as having an effect on their energy levels, but it absolutely does.

In order for your body to properly digest your food, it takes energy to do this. When your digestive system is not efficient and not working properly, it takes even more energy to digest your food, which can completely drain you. A few years ago when I was having digestive problems (bloating, gas, pain, etc), I was exhausted constantly because my digestive system was struggling.

A few years back when I was training for a fitness competition and before I went to school to study Holistic Nutrition and didn’t know any better, I was told to have a meal before I went to bed each night. It wasn’t a huge meal but more of a snack. I didn’t realize it at first, but later on, I noticed that it was really having an effect on my sleep because my body thought it was supposed to be digesting food, but I was sleeping. This caused two problems, it affected my digestive system because my digestion was poor because I was sleeping so it didn’t have the full amount of energy dedicated to it to digest my food. But also because my body was attempting to digest my food, it was still “working” when it should have been more in maintenance mode.

How your digestive problems are linked to your money struggles

Be Careful of Eating Too Close to Bed

Having meals too close to bed can affect your digestive system and in turn, your quality of sleep, so be careful about how close your meals or big snacks are to your bedtime.

To work on improving your digestion, a couple of books that are really fabulous to help you understand your digestive system better and where to start is Eating Alive – Prevention Through Nutrition.

2) Improve Your Sleep

The quality of your sleep has a direct correlation with your energy levels. I am so passionate about this topic, I have written a whole post about optimizing sleep so you can earn more money. As a recap, some of the things that have helped me to go from being an insomniac and being able to be sleeping pill free and sleeping the whole night or waking up just once to pee during the night are using an eye mask, earplugs, magnesium powder supplement and blue light blocking glasses before bed. These four are staples that I use every single night. My eye mask is so important to me, that I actually have 2, one that I keep on my nightstand and one in my travel bag so I don’t forget one when I am going somewhere and in case I lose it traveling somehow, when I get home I know for sure that I will have it, that’s how vital it is to my sleep!

3) What You are Eating Has One of the Biggest Affects on Your Energy

The food that you eat a huge correlation to your energy levels. Our blood sugar levels will raise and lower depending on the foods that we eat and when our blood sugar levels are dropping, it will cause us to feel tired, like we need a nap or in extreme cases, like we are going to pass out. If you ever feel like you are “hangry” and need to eat right NOW and have to eat every 3 hours, one of the factors you may be experiencing is really fluctuating blood sugar levels (more than what they should be fluctuating). Your blood sugar levels may be spiking and then dropping and then when they drop, your body tells you that it needs to raise your blood sugar levels.

Working on balancing your blood sugar levels so you don’t have those extreme highs and lows is paramount for your energy levels. This starts by choosing foods that contain nutrients to balance your blood sugar levels such as protein, fiber, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates. You will also want to be very cautious about refined sugars that you are eating that are causing those spikes and then drops.

 

Click here to download my Realistic Budget template! 

4) Foods That Will Help to Stabilize Blood Sugar Levels

Examples of complex carbohydrates are: legumes (black beans, chickpeas, lentils, azuki beans, etc), sweet potatoes, vegetables, oatmeal, etc.

You will want to limit your simple sugar consumption, just a few examples of simple sugars are: candy, pop, juice, fruit juice, pastries, cookies, chips, etc. as they not only spike and then drop blood sugar levels and leave you with the feeling of the “afternoon slump” and feeling “hangry” but also are nutrient deficient and rob you of important vitamins and minerals such as B-vitamins, magnesium, chromium and more that are needed for energy, balancing your mood and living your healthiest life.

Foods that will help to stabilize blood sugar levels more that are healthy fats are avocado, nuts (almonds, Brazil nuts, walnuts, pecans, cashews, chia seeds, etc), seeds (ex: hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, ground flaxseeds), eggs, coconut (coconut oil, shredded coconut, coconut cream, coconut milk), extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, real butter (not margarine), salmon, etc.

Protein sources to help stabilize blood sugar levels are chicken, turkey, bison, lamb, chickpeas, lentils, black beans, fish, salmon, plain Greek yogurt, etc.

Foods that contain fiber will help you to feel full longer, which will help to stabilize your blood sugar levels. Some examples of fiber rich foods are: beans, lentils, chickpeas, flaxseed, chia seeds, hemp seeds, vegetables, berries, etc.

When it comes to wanting to learn more about specific foods and the nutrients that they contain and how to use them in your diet, a super fantastic book that I highly recommend is The World’s Healthiest Foods book. When I was studying Holistic Nutrition, this is the book that I was turning to the most when writing out meal plans because it is SO user friendly, it lists the vitamins and minerals in order as well as different types of foods and you can very quickly and easily find the information that you are looking for.

5) Avoid Foods That You Are Sensitive To

Consuming foods that you know don’t sit well with your body, will also be a drain on your energy. When your body is reacting to a food that it is sensitive to, it will reduce your energy and your productivity which affects your income potential. You can be sensitive to so many different foods, but dairy is the most common, gluten is also common for some people and other ones can include eggs, Greek yogurt (yes this is dairy but some people still consume it because it is a good protein source, but it may not sit well with you), casein (this is a dairy product but many people use it as a protein source such as casein protein powder (personally I react very negatively to dairy but especially casein), peanuts or peanut butter (even if you don’t have a peanut allergy, peanuts can still cause you problems), flaxseeds can disrupt some people’s digestive systems, etc.

Getting to know your body and listening to it will be the best way to tell what works for you and what doesn’t. Remember that doesn’t mean that you have to avoid these foods forever, it can be for a certain time period while you are improving your health and you can slowly add them back in later when your body has reduced its sensitivity and you have worked on your health and digestive system.

6) If You Know You Need Help with Your Diet, Seek Someone Knowledgeable

If you know that you want to change your diet to improve your health and your energy and feel so overwhelmed with where to start, seek out someone who that is their zone of genius. Seriously consider working with a holistic nutritionist or someone certified in holistic nutrition, who can guide you through these lifestyle changes. When you feel overwhelmed as to where to start, work with someone who can help you drop the overwhelm and keep you accountable along your journey.

 

Click here to download my Realistic Budget template! 

7) B Complex Will Help with Your Energy Levels

One of the nutrients that really helps with energy levels are your B vitamins. If you have a standard American diet, you will be consuming foods that are deficient in B vitamins. B vitamins help with your energy levels and mental health and I have noticed a big difference when I am taking my B complex vitamin and when I don’t. I have had to go off of my vitamins for extended periods of time for testing and there was a direct correlation with my energy levels, mood and mental health going down when I was off of them. Instead of taking B vitamins individually, it is recommended to take them in one supplement, such as a B-100 Complex. I take 1-2 every single day and I take mine in the morning to help with my energy throughout the day. When I need to take 2, I will take one in the morning and the second one in the later morning.

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8) Move Your Body More

You know that feeling you get when you move your body and all of those good endorphins start flowing?!? When you move your body, you get everything that is stagnant, flowing again! Your digestive system, blood flow, your organs, lymphatic system, everything in your body improve when you move more! Make it a habit to move your body for at least 20 minutes a day. Aim to have 10,000+ steps each day, a great way to track this is using a Fitbit (it also makes it more fun, you can have challenges with other people which push you to move more when you see you are falling a little behind and it brings out a healthy competitive nature).

9) Get Your Lymphatic System Flowing More

When it comes to exercise, I also use a mini trampoline to jump on for 5-7 minutes each day to get my lymphatic system moving in my body. The lymphatic system relies on movement to pump fluids throughout your body because it doesn’t actually have a “pump,” it uses your muscle movement and jumping up and down works really well for this. If you have a sluggish lymphatic system it can get backed up and cause a ton of health problems because it isn’t clearing out those toxins out of your body and they are instead remaining in your body, which will take a toll on your energy levels.

10) Getting Outside in Nature in the Morning

To help your body wake up in the mornings and raise your cortisol (cortisol has a “flux” and is supposed to be highest in the morning when you wake and lowest at 2 am when you are sleeping and some people who are struggling with waking up and feeling energized, don’t have high enough cortisol levels during the morning), going for a walk outside in the morning when the sun is out, is a great way to naturally help your circadian rhythms (your body’s natural wake and sleep cycle).

11) Using a Happy Light in the Mornings

For some people who struggle with getting in enough natural Vitamin D which comes from sunshine on your skin (when you are all bundled up it can’t penetrate through your clothes to get into your system), using artificial lights can help. This also has worked well for people who struggle with lower moods in the winter time when they aren’t getting that vitamin D and sunshine like they would in the summer time. I use a “Happy Light” and I use it early in the morning, to help raise my cortisol levels and increase my energy. I don’t use it in the afternoon or evening because that is when I am wanting my body to fall asleep, but by using my Happy Light in the morning, it helps with my energy levels and moods, which helps me to have more productive and happy days. I don’t have the light right in front of me, but I have it turned at an angle so I am getting the benefits of it, but it isn’t shining right in my face.

 

Click here to download my Realistic Budget template! 

12) Use Mushrooms in Your Diet

For the first 20+ years of my life I hated mushrooms, I picked them off of everything. But when I went away to study Holistic Nutrition, I had an amazing teacher who was incredibly knowledge (he has written countless books about mushrooms and the insane benefits of them) about the powers of mushrooms (not the “special” ones, but different varieties of edible mushrooms). That is when I started adding other mushrooms besides the typical two different kinds that you can get at your normal grocery store, into my diet.

I love using mushroom powders in so many ways to increase my energy, my mental clarity, my mental & brain health, my moods, my adrenal function, my hormones, and so many other aspects of my health.

I absolutely love using Four Sigmatics as a daily staple in my life. I love their “hot cacao” drink mixes that aren’t filled with sugar. They taste great (honestly, they don’t taste like mushrooms, they take like chocolate) and they are actually good for you! I drink one in the morning called Revive With Cordyceps which specifically helps with energy and contains the mushroom cordyceps which is an energizing mushroom. I also before bed use the Chill With Reishi that helps me to relax and sleep better.

Coffee is a stimulant and can actually cause you to feel more anxious, which causes a cascade of other effects and draining your energy is definitely one of them. Switching to drinking Dandy Blend which is a healthy coffee alternative or mushroom coffee, is a much better choice (again the coffee doesn’t taste like mushrooms!). I suggest if you are an avid, I-have-to-have-my-coffee-every-single-morning type of person, to be open-minded and just give it a try, using a much healthier less stimulating form of coffee! If you want to try mushroom hot chocolate/coffee or teas, use the code “mandyy” at checkout through Four Sigmatics to save you 10%!

13) Cleaning Out Your Colon

Now this one might totally surprise you and gross you out at the same time. When I found out about getting your colon cleaned out years ago, I was skeptical, grossed out and confused all at the same time, while being intrigued.

When I was suffering from my severe adrenal fatigue, I was trying everything to get my energy levels back. One thing that was suggested to me was to have my colon flushed, to remove toxins and old stool that might be sitting in there that are causing me to be sick from the inside out. When you have toxins that are sitting in your colon and they aren’t being eliminated (even if you are “regular), it can cause “auto-intoxication” which basically means that those toxins can be reabsorbed back into your body and be making you sick from the inside.

My energy levels were so bad, I was willing to give things a try that I wasn’t previously open to. And holy man, am I glad that I did! I went in for colon hydrotherapy and had my colon flushed a few times. Not only did it help with the digestive issues that I was experiencing, it actually helped with my energy!

Now I go in when I am feeling like I need a little extra help and for “maintenance.” You can look colon hydrotherapy up for more information about it, but basically, you have water flushed through your colon and it flushes out what is in there. Usually it is recommended to go for a few treatments in a short period of time versus just going for one, because your colon can be very backed up (especially depending on your lifestyle and eating habits) and it can very easily need a few times in a short period of time, to really get it cleaned out.

I do suggest taking probiotics after you have had colon hydrotherapy, because yes you are flushing the bad bacteria out that may be in your stool, but you are also flushing out the good bacteria, so taking a good quality probiotic is recommended. You will go through an intake form with your colon hydrotherapist and they will tell you about recommendations to follow prior to having your colon hydrotherapy and afterward as well, to get the most benefit out of it, I recommend following their suggestions as they can make your experience that much more effective!

When it comes to choosing someone for colon hydrotherapy, I do recommend asking around for referrals. When I am choosing anyone for anything, I am huge on operating on a referral basis. I love working with people who have been highly recommended to me.

Also, know that not every colon hydrotherapist is the same. You may get a great one and you may get a not so great one, so if you get one that isn’t so great, try to find someone else before completely writing it off altogether. I will share my personal experience, I have worked with 3 different people when I lived in different areas, two of the women I worked with were fantastic and I would recommend them to others, one of them, I didn’t have a positive experience with and I would not recommend her. So just keep that in mind!

14) Read This Book to Improve Your Energy!

When I was battling my many health problems a few years ago and my energy levels were non-existent, I was looking for some books that I could read to help improve my health. I read 100+ books and the absolute best one on getting your energy back or getting energy that you’ve never had before, was Exhausted to Energized! This book was absolutely a game changer for me and I tried so many of the things in it and that is how I found out about some of the different ones that I shared here! This book is worth every penny and then some! I am forever grateful for the Exhausted to Energized book!!

15) Negative People Will Drain Your Energy

I had to cut out certain people out of my life that were draining my energy. The mental and emotional toll that others can have on our quality of life really adds up. You can be eating all of the organic foods in the world, but if your mental and emotional health are suffering, your energy is going to suffer as well. Just remember, that some people are meant to be in our lives for only certain seasons, not everyone is meant to be in our lives forever.

When it comes to people you are around often, set better boundaries. Let them know what is not acceptable and stand up for yourself. Even if this is someone you work with or a family member,  it doesn’t mean that they can treat you like crap. What you are willing to accept, is how people are going to treat you, so raise your standards and set boundaries. It is one of the best things I ever did. And especially with family you feel like you shouldn’t set boundaries, but you absolutely need to.

16) Your Constant Stress & Worries Are Sucking the Life Out of You

How Your Anxiety is Affected by Your Money

When we are constantly stressed and worrying, out energy is literally being reduced all the time. Most people don’t correlate the state of their emotional and mental health, with their energy, but they are absolutely directly related. The most common thing we stress about is our finances. This is not a joke and when we are stressing about our finances, it makes it so we get less sleep, less quality sleep and wake up exhausted yet again to start the day.

Suggestions for this are, writing down in a journal your thoughts to get them out of your head, reading a money mindset book to help change your thoughts and feelings around money to being positive instead of negative. Click here to read my Top 8 Best Money Mindset Books. Another thing I will get my clients to do is to tell themselves that you can’t fix everything with your finances and to leave those thoughts until tomorrow, tonight, just focus on getting an amazing sleep.

If your finances are a constant state of anxiety and stress for you, focus your energy on improving your finances so you are actually able to reduce this stress instead of living the rest of your life with it. If you are struggling with credit card debt, work with a financial coach who will walk you through the step by step actions of getting your credit cards paid off and keeping them paid off and who gives you a custom plan based on YOUR specific financial and life situation. If you are wondering what is financial coaching, here are the most Frequently Asked Questions about Financial Coaching.

If you are in a job that is sucking the life out of you and doesn’t serve you or make you feel truly happy, filled with joy and like you are doing your life’s work and purpose, consider working with a financial coach that will help you to set yourself up financially to be able to leave your soul-sucking job, to do what you are most passionate about. The money that you will spend to work with a coach, will pay off 10x+ more because of the emotional, mental and physical stress that has been reduced in your life and your quality of life improving because you are doing what you are supposed to be doing. This means you will see your stress levels reduce and your relationships drastically change because deep down inside, you are truly happy and that makes you show up as the person that you want to in your life.

If you are feeling really stressed because you know that you need better communication with your significant other but you feel awkward, it is difficult or they don’t want to talk with you about it, check out the full post I did all on this topic about How to Improve Communicating with Your Significant Other About Money.

If you are struggling with your energy because of your financial worries, download my free “4 Steps to Pay Off Your Credit Card Debt” E-book, this gives you more in detail, the step by step actions to take, to get your debt paid off much quicker than you currently are right now and for getting your finances organized and improving your money situation.

Click here to download my Realistic Budget template! 

Frequently Asked Questions about Financial Coaching

What are your favorite ways to increase your energy? Which ones are you going to try now? Leave me a comment in the comments below and I will respond back to you!

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