five energy hacks that are NOT more coffee
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When 3 PM rolls around do you feel focused and clear or are you reaching for caffeine to get you through the rest of the day? While a recurrent pattern of low energy might need further lab testing and evaluation by a naturopathic doctor, some days you just need a little boost to get your energy up and focus in check.
Another cup of coffee seems like your only lifeline when you're trying to get through your to do list, but it can actually be doing more harm than good. Caffeine late in the day can mess with your sleep and spike your cortisol aka your stress hormone.
Here’s five natural alternatives to your afternoon coffee to help boost alertness and feel energized throughout your day without the caffeine spike.
#1 Take a Nap
Yes, you should sleep if you want to be more awake. It may seem counterintuitive but a 20-minute power nap is truly a game changer for focus. A short nap can increase alertness for the next 4-6 hours and improve your mood so you can better tolerate frustration. Try to keep your nap less than 30 minutes to avoid disrupting your sleep at night.
#2 Get your heart rate up
When your blood is circulating, more oxygen is being delivered to your tissues allowing them to work more efficiently. Exercise also increases endorphins to boost your mood. It doesn't take much, even a few jumping jacks at your desk or going up and down the stairs can help. My favorite way to get my heart rate up during the day is to queue up a few songs and dance as hard as I can.
#3 Take a cold shower
Shift your state with cold exposure. Sometimes the body needs to be physically jolted out of its current state to get into a new one. Cold exposure has been linked with increased alertness and endorphins because like exercise, it stimulates blood flow. If you're at work this might not be as easy to do, but splashing your face with cold water or putting an ice cube on your face can mimic this effect to shift your state from drowsy to present.
#4 Understand your rhythms
It is completely normal to have dips and peaks in energy throughout the day. One of the most impactful tools you can gain is to learn your own energy rhythms, your ups and downs and align them with creative work or more mindless work. You might feel the most focus in the morning and if you have flexibility with your schedule blocking all of your more creative heavy tasks in the AM and calls/meetings for the afternoon. Learn to work with your rhythms, not against them for more ease and flow.
#5 Swap your beverage
If you can't get away from the desk or you're looking for something to replace that afternoon beverage, medicinal mushrooms, like Corydceps are caffeine-free and offer a natural energy boost that can help with mental and physical endurance. Cordyceps is an adaptogen, so with long-term use it can improve your energy and ability to adapt to stressors so dips and peaks in energy become more stable over time. Cordyceps is available in a powder you could add to tea or a smoothie, tinctures, or capsules.
Which hack are you trying first?