How to stay energized all day!
Are you wondering how others manage to stay energized all day? Are you struggling to get everything done? Do you find yourself crashing at some point during the day?
In this episode of Solicited Advice I talk about the power of self-care to help you fill your tank with enough energy to get through each day!
If you’ve been following me for any length of time, you’ve probably heard me go on and on about the benefits and importance of self-care.
And here we go again!
The best way to stay energized throughout the day is to make sure you have sufficient self-care built into your day to replenish your mental, physical, and emotional energy reserves.
If we’ve just met, you might be wondering why self-care is so important.
What’s the big deal with self-care?
We each have a limited amount of energy that we take into the day. Each task we undertake and each challenge we face uses up a certain amount of that energy.
We refill our energy reserves through self-care.
I’ve noticed a lot of confusion about what actually counts as self-care.
In a nutshell, self-care is anything that feels like a warm loving hug from your favorite person in the world. It replenishes and restores you mentally, physically, and/or emotionally.
And because we all have different personalities, like and dislikes, and interests, self-care is going to look different for everyone. However a few constants include a good night sleep and eating nutritious food.
Here’s where the confusion comes in.
Self-Care isn’t Self-Work, and it isn’t Distraction.
Some activities clearly fall into one category or the other, however, often the distinction comes down to the way you approach the activity.
Let’s talk about the difference between them using a walk in the park as an example:
- Self-Care is slowly meandering through the park without a goal. Taking time to notice the world around you with all five senses. If you’re an extrovert this walk might take place with a friend, if you’re an introvert you most likely recharge better alone.
- Self-Work is heading into the park with the goal of getting 4,000 steps in 30 minutes. To do that you need to move at a fitness walking pace without stopping to literally or metaphorically smell the flowers.
- Distraction is going into the park for a walk with headphones and listening to a podcast or audiobook. Immersing yourself in another world as you leave the thoughts, cares, and worries of your own life behind.
Having said all that, I want to make it clear that self-work and distraction are not bad things.
Self-Work is actually incredibly important in helping us learn and grow, however, they don’t refill your energy reserves and they won’t help you recharge.
How much Self-Care is enough to keep you energized all day?
The answer to that depends on how depleted your reserves are and what your current energy expenditure is.
Think of it this way – if you’re driving a compact car, you don’t have to stop at the gas station very often on a cross country road trip. However, if you’re driving a large SUV, you’re going to be making a lot more stops on the same trip.
What size are the energy demands in your life right now? The more things draining your energy, the more self-care you need to replenish your reserves.
So in order to stay energized throughout the day, you need to make sure you have enough self-care built into your daily schedule to at minimum equal the amount of energy you’re expending. And this will likely vary from day to day and season to season.
Ready to learn more?
Download my free Self-Care Toolkit and learn how to build a self-care routine that works for your life!
And check out this episode of Solicited Advice where I talk about how to organize your to-do list so once you’re energized you have a plan!
