How do I become a high energy person?

[Hetty091]

I find more and more I am wasting time sitting around and not getting on and doing things.

I have always been very low energy. Even at uni I was always in bed by 9pm. I just can't stay up late.

This morning I woke up at 6 and then didn't have a shower until 10.30. I had to be somewhere but I ended up only spending 20mins at the place instead of the 2 or 3 hours I really should have spent. The mornings are my most energetic time of day too.

I want to be someone who leaps about and Gets Stuff Done but I never have been. Is there any way to change into that person?

I have tried giving up sugar and bread etc.

Following!

I have always been sluggish but I blame that on my thyroid.

Exercise helps but when you're feeling sluggish it's so hard to get started.

Is your iron low? You’d be surprised

I'm a morning person - that is when I rush around and get stuff done. Same at work always way more productive in the morning. I tend to dip energy wise from 3pm no matter what I've done. I'm usually in bed by 9.30 and asleep by 10.30 and up by 6/6.30 the next day.

Make a plan - write down your to do list put it in plain sight and tick it off as you do it can even add in what to eat the next day. Do this every evening for the next day . In the morning read this list out loud ' right today in going to do.......'

Shower and skin care every night and get your clothes, bag ready even down to having your shoes out and ready by the door every night for the next day

If you wear make up get your eye brows tinted and fake eyelashes if you wear them or just get your eyelashes tinted to reduce make up time

Get your sleeping good, nice pjs, clean bedding as often as you can, gent shui your bedroom. Lavender on your pillow, lavender in every room

Have your alarm clock start with a playlist of music. Get yourself to listen to music everyday and try singing along that gets you up and about. No soppy ballads though

Eat right and fitness. Don't forget water water water

Mood lighting in your home. Dimming in the evening and bright in the day

Batch cook so you minimise time cooking and more time to relax or plan

Honestly, sometimes I think you just have to fake it. Pretend you're a high energy person, so get up and stop thinking about whether you WANT to get up. If you're a high energy person, you're getting up, because that's what they do. Just go.

My ferritin was low but my iron was ok. I have not been tested for years.

I definitely don't drink enough water but I'm trying.

I will try these tips. I think it might be psychological rather than physical. I don't know. Thank you for all the suggestions.

@handfulofsugar Really good advice

Objects in motion stay in motion.

Don't give yourself time to sit and rest when doing compound jobs - toilet, shower, brush teeth, moisturise your body, dry hair etc all one after the other. It'll make you more productive but when you do sit down you'll feel like you can get back up and do the next 'set'.

It takes a while to get into the flow but once your routine is set you find your brain and body link up and save for extenuating factors, you'll feel more high energy because energy feeds energy (to a certain point).

Limit your screen time

@Hetty091 i have gone between phases of my life when i am the high energy person and then a very very low energy person as you describe.

This was just for me, but low energy times were - when i was chronically depressed and connected to that physically not in a good place (poor diet, no exercise etc). Do you feel this could be connected to mental health more generally?

In terms of what you can do....

Weirdly, i find having more stuff to do makes me have more energy. It must be the time expands to fit the task thing. Perhaps booking in a non negotiable / concrete thing for early in the morning so you have a thing you have to get up for. Once you are up, and out, it is easier to then do the stuff.

Get another iron test. I have on/off anaemia, and last year the symptoms of that anaemia meant i was sleeping, and fatigued and very low energy. Even if it comes back saying all fine, the NHS thresholds to diagnose anaemia is ridiculously low, so take an iron supplement anyway AND a vitamin D supplement.

don't know if you're this kind of person, but if you are and it might help have post it's / reminders or something up. It feels like getting up and out is a sticking point - so have a clear timeline for those things/time limits for them. Put out clothes night before. Pack the bag you need for the day etc.

I am practically moribund by nature. The trick for me is to not stop until everything is done. If I pause, that's it, I lose the whole day. So I don't use my snooze button on my alarm - I get up immediately when it goes off. I drink tea and coffee on the go, rather than sitting down. I have a mini whiteboard on my fridge where I write everything I need to do and I make myself do it as fast as possible. At work I use a notebook in the same way. It's hard work. I really just want to sit in an armchair, reading and eating crisps and having the occasional snooze.

Thanks @handfulofsugar

I am naturally very low energy. I like to think a lot rather than do a lot. I basically have to fake it and avoid sitting down at all costs. Ignore the voice that tells you you need a rest. Not forever, but for longer than you normally would.

I play games when I feel
Like this. With the kids or on my own: when doing boring jobs.
Beat the timer
Can I find 28 things to throw away
Another absolute beauty is set a time lapse video for tidying

Also streaks on things keep me coming back

I am fucking knackered and not good at taking own advice however

What did you do between 6am & shower at 10:30am.

Don't do it.
You'll get bored and do something more productive instead.

Practically moribund 🤣 can identify with this. And the crisp eating napping on the sofa....

Following.

Drink water does make a huge difference. It’s taken me to an embarrassing age to figure this out.

I'm exactly the same op.... always been like this. Even in my prime, I'd be in bed by 9pm!

I just always bump along the bottom of anaemia. No idea why but veganuary made me feel way more energetic. It wasn't something I expected, but there must have been something about what I was eating that got iron into me where supplements failed.

Maybe diet is worth another go?

I find that trying to find something to look forward to in the morning, ideally out of the house helps. Completely changed how I feel about being shouted awake by the kids too. Now I sigh but think 'oh yeah I get to do that' the fun things will depend on you but for me include.

Doing the big shop on my own
Invoicing clients (satisfying)
Going out for breakfast/nice coffee first thing

I always try to schedule things (e.g. site visits, client meetings) as early as possible so I'm prepped early and then have the whole rest of the day afterwards where I'm already dressed and put together.

Being an early bird is a GOOD thing. You just need to channel that energy into something. Most important is to get out of bed and get showered and dressed!! Make a to do list for the day. Then cross them off with a big pen. I have a magnetic white board on the fridge for my to do lists.

Over time, the body gets very good at what you do the most. So if you sit and scroll a lot; it will get very good at that. Conversely, if you start to walk a lot, it will gradually adapt. So the more you sit in a chair the more your body will want to do that.

Consistency is the key here.

You get energy imho by doing things. Just do something for 15 mins and complete it and that will give you energy for the next 15 mins. You can buy clocks with 15 min red zones on them. You can have them in each room.

I find a “school” timetable helps. Divide your day up in to half hour chunks. And use x amount of half hour slots per morning, afternoon and evening routines.

Routines really help so every day for example before work I feed animals, shower, dress and eat breakfast, clean one element of bathroom such as loo, sink or shower, put a load of laundry on, and prep dinner and put it in fridge for later. Then I do a four hour chunk of work from 9-1 with a short break at 11am. I got a lot of this routine from Flylady and adapted it for myself.

If you think you may be depressed though op, try going to gp and really fight to do things which combat it as it can take over without you realising it.

Try from now until Easter:

• going to bed at same time
• getting up at same time
• eating meals at the same time; say 8 am, 1 pm and 6 or7 pm.

Also get on top of your sleep quality, make sure you have a good diet and exercise daily.

You should see a gradual improvement. Good luck 😄

Get What Done? Would be my question. Is it essential stuff like necessary housework, feeding yourself and doing things you enjoy? Does doing nothing make you feel bad about yourself or are you content with what you are doing? Do you feel ill
or depressed? Lots of people get Stuff done but it doesn’t mean there is value in that stuff.

As someone who is also low energy I recently massively cut down my screen time because I could tell I was just scrolling out of boredom and probably low level stress; that’s been quite good because I identified that my phone was making me feel bad and I wanted to change that. The things I endlessly put off are things that I really don’t want to do - like find a roofer. Those are quite significant mental blocks that I try to work out the reason for. Task avoidance is a bit different from being someone who just doesn’t do a lot of stuff.

This. I have become so listless, just got tested and my ferritin is 5 = very low as is vitamin D.

I do find having a list to focus me and getting out of my pjamas as soon as possible after wake up helps a huge amount.

Also if you are like me and have chronic sleep issues and are extremely demotivated by to do lists and strict routines then a lot of this advice is unlikely to help. For me it’s been a lot more about reflective thought and CBT. You are probably not lazy, You might not be that arsed about stuff which may or may be reaching a problematic level, you might have an underlying health condition, or there might be an emotional instinct to avoid unpleasant tasks that won’t necessarily be obvious.

It's not about not feeling tired/sluggish/whatever. Everyone's tired. It's about pushing through that feeling. Self-discipline and mental toughness. The more you do it, the easier it gets... try reading Atomic Habits and see if there's anything there you could try.