With increasingly busy lives, many people regularly find themselves feeling tired and drained. However, if the tiredness you’re experiencing is lifestyle-related, there are lots of things you can do to increase your energy levels, here are 6 helpful tips.

1. Get more sleep 

Sleep is something that easily gets put on the back burner when you’re busy. From pushing back bedtime to meet a deadline or missing out on a few hours of sleep due to shifts at work, many people cut back on hours that should be spent in bed. It’s recommended that you aim for around 7 hours of sleep per night, although some people require a little more and others need a little less. If you don’t sleep as much as you need to, you can try winding down from your day with relaxing behaviors before bed. This could be taking the time to have a bath, do some yoga, reading a book or getting into bed half an hour earlier than usual. You should also try to avoid using phones and other screens around bedtime. 

2. Regular Exercise

This may seem confusing, as when you’re feeling tired, getting up and moving your body can feel like the last thing you want to do.Luckily, you don’t need to take part in killer workouts to experience these benefits. In fact, one study found that sedentary people with persistent, unexplained fatigue decreased their tiredness by around 65% just by regularly participating in low-intensity cycling. To incorporate exercise into your day, you could try getting away from your desk and going for a walk on your lunch break or walking to and from your place of work.

3. Nutrition

If you’re always feeling tired, sluggish and low in energy, it might be worth taking a look at your eating habits. Your body needs fuel to keep you going. Choosing whole, nutritious foods most of the time will provide your body with the nutrients it needs to function at its best, if you’re eating a lot of processed foods high in sugar and fat, you may find that they affect your energy levels as well as your health. Additionally, if you have an erratic meal pattern and regularly skip meals, you may miss out on necessary nutrients, making you feel tired.

4. Drink plenty of water

Dehydration can affect your brain function, mood and energy levels. It's important to maintain your hydration levels throughout the day and remember caffeine actually dehydrates you so have a glass of water with your coffee/tea.

5. Put away the gadgets

Our phones are exhausting us.  Between all the alerts, screen time, and blue light, were tricking our brains into thinking it’s day when it’s night, disrupting sleep cycles by causing our brains to stop the production of melatonin, the hormone that cues our bodies for rest. Being tuned into technology doesn’t have to come at such a steep cost, we recommend turning the blue light mode off on your phone after 7pm or better yet turn off your phone/iPad altogether a few hours before you go to bed. 

6. Be Social 

If you feel tired and in low spirits, it can be helpful to get out and socialise with friends, joining a social club or starting a new hobby that gets you out and about will boost your mood and therefor your energy levels.