11 Things To Quit If You Want To Get Off The Energy Rollercoaster

More than anything else your energy is contagious.

Enthusiasm and passion are great and I’ve seen leaders carry themselves on it for incredible lengths of time.

But wired energy, nervous energy, hyper vigilant energy, afternoon energy slumps and home energy crashes take their toll on your health, ability to focus, and your significant relationships while also setting the tone for the type of energy running through the business.

The best part is, that these changes don’t require massive investments in time and energy outside of what you’re already committing to.

They just require a change in habit. The reward will be more energy, more focus, more clarity, more calm and more presence.

The potential of where those things will take you and your business are impossible to measure and limited only by your imagination.

Quit under eating. To be clear, we eat in order to fulfil a nutrient requirement the fulfilment of which allows the body to grow, repair, rest and produce energy. Under eating means under consumption of nutrients whether your plate is full or empty.

However, under eating is one of the most common ingredients in energy slumps, anxiety, poor sleep, wired energy, difficulty relaxing, cravings and much much more. If your body isn’t getting what it needs it won’t function well.

Quit mouth breathing. You brain needs 3 things. Stimulus, Glucose and Oxygen. If you’re mouth breathing other than during intense exercise then you likely aren’t getting the right balance of oxygen and CO2  to your brain. Indicator could be snoring, gasping, breath holding, yawning, headaches, muscle pain and of course low energy.

Quit being on call. Ask anyone on call for the emergency services. Being on call, available for work is not the same as resting and being present. The nervous system is maintaining a higher level of alertness like a phone with all the apps left open. Decide on absolute times you won’t be available and won’t check your devices, however brief, it will do your energy levels the world of good.

Quit the inconsistent bed time. 10:30 here, 12.00 there, 11.30 the next day, constantly fluctuating sleep times are exactly the same as jet lag caused by changing time zones. All this causes different hormone levels driving energy slumps, sugar cravings and more.

Quit the caffeine after lunch. Caffeine has a half life of 6 hours which means a dose of caffeine within 10-12 hours of bed is like an espresso just before you close your eyes at night. If your energy isn’t what you want it to be this could be the missing link even if you feel like your sleep quality is good it doesn’t necessarily mean it is.

Quit eating at your desk, with your phone or on the go. Digestion is a parasympathetic process which is to say it requires relaxation, enjoyment and anticipation to happen effectively. You aren’t what you eat, you are what you digest and absorb. If you can’t relax and enjoy your food it’ll do more harm than good in terms of health and energy.

Quit using willpower to power through all the time. Good leaders are often very practical. They work out what needs to happen and start executing. Often though they choose the most efficient path rather than the most effective. That is to say they choose the most direct route even if that route is tedious, boring or draining rather than the path that’s fun, inspiring and energy giving. Start taking the extra time and plan a more energising path. Willpower is a significant energy drain if you can reduce how much you is it you’ll have more energy and you’ll enjoy the process more.

Quit starting your day reactively. When you start reactively you spend your day chasing.  Like a productivity video game. Wake up - email, slack, email, WhatsApp, Dopamine high. Meeting. Dopamine crash. Meeting ends email, slack, email, WhatsApp Dopamine high. Do some important long deadline work, Dopamine crash. You spend from dawn to dusk chasing the Dopamine until burnout comes because you used up all the Dopamine. Create some structure. Stop aiming for efficient. Swap it for effectiveness.

Quit avoiding exercise to create more time. sounds like a stop not doesn’t it, but is not. Movement is one of the base functions that all animals do and we recognise them as being sick when they stop. Movement is required for cellular waste removal, bone and muscle function, health organ movement, proper brain function and energy balance. If you aren’t performing complex movement as well as lots of walking every day then you cannot expect your energy levels to be consistent or good because you aren’t operating the body how it was designed just like if you tried to give up sleep.

Quit eating (or drinking) stuff that cause you to feel bloated, anxious, or run down. No system in the body works alone, no system get sick alone, no system repairs alone. If you’re bloated, run down, anxious because of what you’re consuming your brain and body will direct all the resources they can towards survival rather than towards energy, brain function and rather importantly, decision making.

Quit suppressing your emotions. Negative emotions are a sign that you are in fight, flight or freeze and your nervous system is in high alert unable to rest, digest, repair or consolidate memory. You are also far less self aware, socially aware or empathic towards yourself or anyone else. At the very least you need to start expressing, perhaps on paper or to a trusted friend. Suppressing emotion is probably the single most energy draining thing on this list.

Suppression is what it all comes down to though. For the most part of on some level you already know all the things on this list. In order to find yourself here you have suppressed feelings, emotions, thoughts that have told you to do something different and you haven’t because of a short term need of the business.

If you wish to get off the energy rollercoaster at some point you have to say enough and create a strategy for life rather than telling yourself things will be different when…

If not now when?