Boost Your Energy: Sharpen The Saw
There is a story about a man cutting down a tree with a saw. He is approached by a stranger who says that the saw is dull. The stranger recommends that the saw be sharpened to get the job done faster. The man sawing says that he doesn’t have enough time to sharpen the blade and continues his work.
We have a tendency to focus on what’s urgent while pushing aside important preparation that would save us time in the long run. Considering our health, we say, “I don’t have enough time to exercise, prepare good food, or to sleep more.” However, these very habits would provide us with the energy we need to be more effective.
We often forget that our productivity is a function of time and energy. This is obvious when we stay up too late on a Friday night and get very little done on Saturday. We have the time that we need, but we don’t have the energy that we need to get things done.
Where does that energy come from? Most importantly, a good diet provides energy. Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma suggests, “Eat [real] food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” The proper ratio of nutrients for meals is described in the “Harvard Healthy Eating Plate” that looks like this:
It’s worth noting that drinking 2-3 liters of water each day is also important for maintaining energy. In fact, sleepiness or tiredness is one of symptoms of dehydration. Eating some good oils and fats is important because they provide long-lasting energy.
Sleep is another key factor in the search for increasing your energy. How it does this remains much of a mystery, but we’ve all experienced what a poor night’s sleep can do to us. I recommend preparing for sleep as early as 10:30 PM. A lack of sleep steals the energy we could have used to be more successful in life.
Exercise is also quite important for maintaining your energy. Dr. Patrick O’Connor of the University of Georgia found this to be true in his 2006 review of over 70 studies on exercise covering over 6,800 test subjects. “More than 90% of the studies showed the same thing: Sedentary people who completed a regular exercise program reported improved fatigue compared to groups that did not exercise,” reported O’Connor. “It’s a very consistent effect.” Also, the effects of exercise were even greater than the effects of stimulant medications.
To be clear, eating well, sleeping well, and exercising well are much better at providing you with increasing levels of energy than energy drinks, coffee, and other stimulants. So, the next time you need a boost of energy, don’t reach for those things. Instead, reach for good food, your pillow, or your running shoes.