8 Surprising Ways to Lift You Out of a Low-energy Spell

#1. Get hyper-focused on what you REALLY want

When your energy’s down, all you can think of is getting it back up.

Most people (especially entrepreneurs) have a to-do list a mile long. To turn that list into a scoreboard of successes it takes 3 things in ample supply — dedication, self-discipline, and energy.

But sometimes there’s an intermediary step to “rising” when we’re down — when we need to stop, chill out and check-in. It’s hard to stay upbeat and energetic when you’re exhausted. And working your adrenals overtime by OD-ing on caffeine isn’t a compassionate solution.

Pushing the boat is bound to spring a leak and punch a hole in your plans when what you need is to recharge, recalibrate, and devise a plan for the redistribution of your energy.

Consider the following strategies for shifting the way you operate. These are not quick-fix solutions. They’re deliberate choices you can make towards a more effective, self-honoring way to engage with your life and your career.

Life is energy. Clear discernment over what you do with yours has the potential to change everything for the better.

1. Get hyper-focused on what you REALLY want

Know what makes you happy — not momentarily happy, but really, really happy — the kind of happy that is a natural byproduct of doing what you love.

Focus on this thing that really puts the sunshine in your heart and refuse to let anything or anyone keep you from it. And don’t down-play what it is because you’re not sure if it’ll pay off in the end.

Allow yourself to honor what really puts a smile in your heart — this thing, whatever it is, is the spirit of your inner smile. Don’t disrespect that or take it lightly or put it off for one more day.

People can get exhausted from resisting what their heart’s been trying to tell them. So, if you’ve been resisting something, stop — let go and let it in.

Let your focus on what you really want be a burning arrow of direction in redesigning your life for optimal energy distribution.

2. Put your life in order

Sometimes we’re in a low-energy rut because we have things on our to-do list that shouldn’t be there. Do you have something on your list that keeps getting carried over week after week? Get the thing done. Letting it hang out is creating mental and emotional weight.

Recently I was feeling heavy and tired. Piles of papers and notes were taking over my desk and every time I saw them, my mood went from sunny to cloudy instantaneously. In addition, the recycling in the back of my car was piling up and the garden needed to be weeded.

I was working hard getting into a dedicated writing routine, but these undone things were weighing on my mind and I was suffering the psychosomatic effects of it. I felt tired, tired, tired….

When I recognized my own heavy thoughts, I set about clearing out my unfinished business. It only took me a couple of hours to do it, but the difference in how it made me feel was worth its weight in gold.

The psychological weight began to disappear as I was cleaning things up. I wasn’t even done yet and was already feeling the effects of my actions. Afterward, fresh energy flowed into my projects, and my work was renewed with creative vigor.

If you have cleaning up to do, imagine all the energy you’ll have available to you when you stop thinking about having to do it because it’s already done. Then resolve yourself to doing the thing!

Get it over with and out of the way! Cleanse your life and your mind of the trivial things that pile up. Greater things are trying to come to you, but shit’s piled up in front of the door. So get your life in order and clear the path.

3. Create a structure for your work

It’s a similar situation with my writing projects. I have a list of what’s next on the agenda. If I don’t move fast on that list, it begins to weigh on my mind, so I set a timer for 2–3 hours, depending on the project. I get twice as much done twice as fast just by setting a timer.

That’s efficiency! Efficiency means I have more time for me at the end of the day. If you’re not efficient, you can find our work stretching into the evening.

Here’s what my typical workday looks like:

I spend 2 hours writing an article, take a 30-minute break, then spend 3 hours on development for an online course I’m creating. I set the timer for both, and it really works to keep me focused.

In addition, I give myself 1–2 hours for editing the previous days work, and an hour each day for social media — both to post as well as read and respond.

Social media platforms are a way to share what I write about and what I teach, so it’s a priority. It also keeps me connected to the world, my community, and my friends — but I don’t want it to occupy my time. Giving social media a slot in my schedule keeps me from impulsively scrolling all day.

This structure works great for me. Make your own look any way it needs to according to the demands of your job. If you already have a structure that works well for you, great! Move on to #4.

But if you have that sneaking feeling that you need to be better organized with your work and your time, start by writing out a list of all you wish to accomplish in a day.

Begin with writing everything down, then eliminate things that aren’t pressing. You’ll find that a lot of things don’t need to happen right now.

Take your edited list, fill in time margins for each task, scribble in a couple of 15 to 30-minute breaks, then stick to it. You’ve just created a new schedule that will utilize your energy more efficiently.

You’ll be amazed at how much of your energy will return to you once you have a clear plan — one that clearly shows you how everything will get accomplished.

4. Know who your support network is

We’re living under strange circumstances that don’t really nurture our human connections. A good friend of mine says she reads my stories on medium because she can hear my voice in them and it makes her miss me less.

I understand how she feels. We’re devising pioneering ways to lift ourselves up from a different kind of down than we’ve faced before — and we’re finding our way to each other any way we can.

Having a support network is an integral part of your well-being. It’s important to know who to call when you're feeling down. Not all your friends will understand the headspace you’re in, but if you have at least one person who does, that’s all you need.

When you open a conversation with a trusted friend, the tired, low energy you’re feeling can start to loosen up and move. It’s like unclogging a dam in a stream. It clears the debris from your emotional channel and gets your energy flowing again.

The key here is to seek a conversation for the sake of clearing the debris, not for the sake of wallowing.

5. Eat right for your body and your mind

A healthy diet is crucial to maintaining a consistently high level of energy. Eating right not only affects our physiology, it also affects the clarity of our thinking and the balance of our emotions.

If there’s one thing to cut out of your diet, I’d say sugar (particularly refined sugar) would be a wise choice. Sugary foods actually weaken your body’s ability to respond to stress and can increase your risk for developing depression. There’s a great article about this from Healthline and also how sugar can “zap your brainpower.”

If there’s one thing to increase in your diet, I’d say eat more fresh vegetables. Fresh vegetables have the highest nutrient density of all foods. In particular mushrooms, kale, seaweed, potatoes and garlic are all very nutrient-rich foods.

Nutrient-dense vegetables like these are loaded with vitamins, minerals, and cancer-fighting compounds that are also good for your brain and your energy. In addition, legumes and leafy greens along with dark chocolate can contribute to your energetic health.

Ooopps! Did I say dark chocolate? That’s not a vegetable!

Well not really, it’s actually a bean that comes from a tree. And it comes with impressive benefits.

Dark chocolate (especially in it’s purer form, cacao) is a life-saver when it comes to a healthy energy lift. It reduces the stress hormone, cortisol, and contains a mood-enhancing molecule called anandamide.

Anandamide’s enhancement power lies in its ability to increase the availability and circulation of serotonin and other neurotransmitters in the brain. Cacao is also thought to be a good source of iron, making dark chocolate (70% cacao or higher) a wonderful treat for women during PMS or menses.

Finally, be sure to drink plenty of water. Dehydration can make you feel weak and can cause your muscles to ache. On average, a person weighing 150 lbs. needs about 2 quarts of water per day. You can find a chart for proper water intake according to your weight here.

6. Develop a self-care plan

Having a plan for consistent self-care is critical if you want to meet the demands of productivity every day. That takes energy and you can’t get energy from a broken light socket or a burnt-out light bulb. It takes ongoing maintenance to keep anything in life operable.

Self-care means different things for different people. For instance, every day upon waking, I journal my dreams. I then start my day sitting quietly in the garden with a cup of coffee.

No talk, no reading, no checking my cell phone for stats or social media — nada. Just me and nature — the plants, the bees, the birds, and a bit of sun on my face. I then have half an hour of yoga, 20–30 minutes of meditation, and about 30 minutes of spiritual text reading of my choice.

Only then do I move towards the shower, have some breakfast, and say good morning to my desk and my laptop. I’ve taken care of myself and feel ready to meet the world full-on with my whole attention.

I’ve learned through experience if I don’t give myself these things I have less of me to give to you, so everybody pays the price for my self-negligence.

For parents especially, self-care can be difficult to manage. I was a single mother raising two sons, so I get it.

I still got up at 5am to take a morning run and to sit for 15 minutes outside in the garden. It’s what I needed to NOT lop everybody else’s head off each day. I prayed, meditated, and had spiritual practice time at night after my kids went to bed.

Eventually, I went back to college, and even with a heavy homework schedule, I still got in my morning run and found time for my spiritual practice. I needed it then more than ever if I was to succeed with my goals and responsibilities.

Notice how I’m big on the spiritual side of life. If you don’t currently have a spiritual practice, get one. And don’t limit the idea here. My definition of spiritual is very broad. You can be an atheist and still be very spiritual.

If you’re religious your practice may be based in your religion. If you’re not religious, your practice could be some form of meditation, or even sitting quietly in nature each day.

I used to work with really intense aggressive kids and one of the things I did to set the tone of my day was to walk for 30 minutes in the morning, listening to inspiring music that really lifted me up.

I had inner juice to give those kids after that. On days I didn’t walk and listen, there was no juice. Also, don’t forget to integrate self-care into your workday! You’re not a machine. Schedule breaks away from your desk as well as stretch breaks too!

Know what self-care looks like for you and stay committed to it. And make it a part of your plan to keep promises to yourself. Nothing will deflate your self-esteem more than breaking your word to yourself.

7. Redefine the way you think of energy

If you want to keep your energy level healthy then feed it with healthy things. This can begin with food, but it’s better if it doesn’t end there.

The science of quantum physics teaches us that everything in existence is energy — EVERYTHING. That’s a big everything, so consider the energy signature of the music you listen to, your favorite radio or television programs, or the movies you watch.

What are you surrounding yourself with? Don’t fool yourself into thinking that it doesn’t matter — it does. If everything is energy then what’s happening when the energy field that is you comes in contact with the energy fields of other people? What about the energetic vibe of the places you frequent?

Everything you come in touch with has an impact on your own energy.

A question I will often ask myself is whether or not something is life-supportive or non-life-supportive. Think about that for a moment. Don’t you feel a bit like the walking dead when you’re drained and exhausted?

When your energy is low, your life-force is low.

Life-force is another name for the chi energy of martial arts masters. It’s something we all have, but kung fu masters learn to control, channel, and direct their life-force in particular ways. They’ve learned to master their own energy.

There’s a reason that kung fu masters (Shaolin monks) eat a diet primarily of rice, vegetables, and fruits — all of which are grown within the confines of the Shaolin temple.

The pure nature of what they eat, free of any condiments or additives is said to increase the Shaolin's will power — a necessary attribute for someone waking up at the crack of dawn to undergo some of the most intense rigors of martial arts training in the world. The Shaolin know how to manage their energy, and when it comes to energy management, food is no joke.

Neither is anything else. The Shaolin consciously practice everything.

8. Be conscious of where your attention goes

We in the West could learn a lot from energy masters like the Shaolin. They don’t waste their energy— not on foul thinking, not on foul eating, or on unproductive distractions from their goal of inner-balance.

They know how to focus on a goal and dedicate themselves to the practice necessary to bring about the final outcome. The Shaolin master is the epitome of self-discipline.

And what does his self-discipline do? It cultivates, intensifies, and manages the refined, clear focus of life energy. That is power. Whatever he puts his attention on and applies his will towards will receive all that energy. Talk about manifestation…. man, how humbling.

How can I — you — we — anyone, other than a Shaolin master begin to understand the cultivation and management of our own energy?

The Shaolin have it down to a fine science. But what about the rest of us?

Am I suggesting you discontinue your Netflix account, or get rid of social media, chocolate cake, and your cell phone, in order to uplift your energy?

No, not quite. But I am going to suggest you rethink your relationship to those aspects of your life. A part of taking some time to chill out and check-in when your energy is low has to do with reassessing the distribution of your energy.

Whatever you pay attention to, you are giving your energy to. Keep that in mind as you reassess. Notice how the things you give your energy to, whether people, places, or activities, gain power in your life. Your energy is power. How much power are you going to give each component of your life? And why?

How much power are you going to give that tub of ice cream or that horror flick you’ve been wanting to see? How much power are you going to give to your fear of failing or not being good enough?

Are the things you’re currently giving power to helping you or hindering you? Are they bringing energy into your mind, body, and emotions in a positive strength building way? Or are those things depleting you of vital life-force physically, mentally, and emotionally?

How often do you stop to ask these questions?

These are literally life-giving questions and yet so few people take the time to notice what they’re giving their life energy away to. Isn’t the stuff that’s powering you worth knowing more about?

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