Universal Strategies to Boost Mental Energy

We’ve all been there - you’ve only just started your workday and you already feel like you’ve hit the “low-fuel tank” warning of your brain. The only chance you have to make this workday bearable and productive is to slam back another coffee. 

Or is it? What if there are ways to boost - and protect - your mental energy during your workday? 

A Note about Establishing Supportive Routines

The importance of regular routines that support quality sleep, nutrition, exercise, and mental wellbeing cannot be understated - however, it takes time, consistent practice, and yes, making mistakes, to figure out what you need to rest and feel your best. There is no one-size-fits-all routine that works for everyone, and even productivity experts forget to mention that an ideal routine for you in one season of life might need to shift entirely following a significant event or life-change. While you’re establishing or modifying routines that work for you, what can you do in the meantime when, in a moment of fatigue or mental fog, you need to marshall your mental stamina and strive for peak performance? 

In this blog series, we'll explore specific strategies for maximizing mental stamina that you can try almost anywhere, and we’ll further tailor these suggestions for specific spaces and working-conditions. We’re kicking off this series by starting with universal, tried-and-true strategies you can try anywhere, wherever your work leads you.

First, Take a Mindful Moment

You may have some feelings about the mental fatigue you are feeling right now, or about the prospect of managing your work today. Before you read on and try the strategies below, prepare yourself by checking inward:

1. What are you feeling in this moment? Whether tired, overwhelmed, unmotivated, anxious, frustrated, or something else - acknowledge its presence. Try to notice where you feel it in your body - perhaps your shoulders are tensed, or your head feels foggy, or maybe you feel disconnected from your body.
2. Can you offer yourself compassion for this emotion? Try saying to yourself, “It’s okay to feel this way”, or “It’s human to have days like today”.
3. Can you accept the presence of this feeling / emotion? As much as you may not want to feel this way, allowing this feeling the space to exist without trying to override it is an important step to moving through the feeling and continuing with your day.
4. Having accepted the presence of the feeling, are you willing to try to co-exist with it today? If not, repeat steps 1-4.

This mindfulness practice in self-regulation aims to support you with reducing the intensity of any emotions that could otherwise interfere with your workday. 

Next, let’s dive into these strategies to get you through the workday with renewed energy!

14 Ways You Can Boost Mental Energy (Almost) Anywhere

Whether you're in a bustling office, at a cozy home desk, or even in a coffee shop, these strategies can be your go-to methods for overcoming moments of fatigue or mental fog. They’re designed to be versatile and easy to implement, providing immediate relief and setting you up for success no matter your workspace.

Mindfulness and Breathwork: Learn more about the importance of mindfulness in this Ted Talk from Andy Puddicombe, or take 10 minutes to go through this 10-minute reset practice from Headspace.

Power-up Snacks: Choose snacks high in protein, fiber, and healthy fats.

Gentle Movement and Stretching: Check out this YouTube playlist of office-friendly yoga stretches ranging from as little as four minutes to under 20 minutes!

Micro-Workouts or Exercise Snacking: Exercise snacking is a way to break up your day with short bursts of exercise, typically under 2 minutes at a time, which can offer profound benefits to your health, your cognitive performance and your energy. Check out how this FitOn writer incorporated exercise snacking into their routine!

Shift Your Perspective: Challenge your thoughts, reframe a roadblock as a growth opportunity, explore perspectives that differ from your own about a problem or conflict, and consider how your own views on a problem / priority / concern might change in six months, one year or 10 years.

Tidy Your Workspace: Take 5 minutes to clear your physical and virtual workspace (yes, give yourself permission to close those 40 unneeded tabs!), so you can focus on the tasks at hand.

Get Outside and in Natural Light: Work or take breaks in natural light or outdoors.

Time Management Techniques:

• Pomodoro technique - Work in focused intervals (e.g., 25 minutes) followed by short breaks (e.g., 5 minutes) to maintain high productivity.

• The to-do list - Learn how to write an effective to-do list here.

• The Eisenhower Matrix to help you prioritize or delegate tasks

• The Kanban Board - Get a clear overview of your current work, what you have already accomplished and what next steps you still have.

• Break the work down with Magic To-do generator: Not sure where to start with an item on your task list? Goblin Tools offers this tool to break down a project into smaller, more manageable steps for you!

• Create reminders with physical or virtual sticky notes - Keep sticky notes on hand to write down anything that comes to your mind or comes across your desk while you’re in focus mode, so that you can come back to the sticky note later on.

Upbeat Music or Focus Soundscapes: Play around with some different ways to fuel your workday with music or ambient noise:

• Choose specific types of music for specific tasks. Try soundtracks from adventure movies for harder tasks, instrumental music for answering emails, and your favourite upbeat soundtrack for easier tasks!

• Create or find a timed playlist that you will listen to for a specific task, and then aim to finish the task before you reach the end of the playlist.

• If you tend to find music distracting, consider ambient noise such as nature soundscapes, coffee-shop or library ambience, or brown noise. 

Hydrate: Drink water. If possible, add lemon to your water. If you want a hot drink for hydration, opt for herbal tea or hot water over coffee or non-herbal tea.

Gratitude and Appreciation: Take a moment to reach out to someone and appreciate them. 

Break for Play: Solve a Sudoku puzzle or play a quick game of Tetris on your phone, or exercise your creativity by doodling, writing, knitting, colouring, digital collaging or taking photos. Hear from engineer and STEM-advocate Dr. John Cohn about the importance of bringing play into your work to support productivity and creativity.

Cold Stimulation: A 2018 study found that cold temperature could lower heart rate and increase heart rate variability, suggesting potential for reducing stress. Ways you can try this for yourself:

• Place a chilled beverage container or ice pack on the back of your neck for 15-20 seconds.  

• Splash cold water on your face.

• Swap hot drinks for iced beverages or ice water, or even ice chips, to sip on while working.

Co-working or “Body Doubling”: Find a co-working buddy for accountability and mutual support. You may be able to co-work in person or via video call with a colleague or a friend on similar tasks, or you can find one using digital platforms like Focusmate which offers users 3 free co-working sessions per week.

While the above strategies can be integrated into your workday to help give you a boost in your day, they are not replacements for quality sleep, exercise and proper nutrition, and mental health care.  

There also may be other factors to consider for the long-term, including making decisions about changing where you work, live or rest. Finally, there may be aspects to your work or life impacting your energy and wellbeing which you may have less control over, but may be able to influence future changes, such as calling attention to a problem and advocating for solutions. 

To clarify what might be draining your energy day-to-day, take an energy audit like this one from The Energy Project. Working with a coach or therapist can help you significantly to identify which areas may need to be prioritized, and help you with creating a plan for making improvements to support long-term changes.

Whether you're working in an office, navigating remote work, or managing entrepreneurial responsibilities, you can modify and incorporate these strategies to boost and protect your mental energy at work.

At The Mental Game Clinic, we have psychologists, psychotherapists, and social workers who can help with a wide range of concerns related to performance psychology, sport psychology, and clinical psychology. If you know someone who may be struggling, please share this blog with them. If you would benefit from additional support in this season, book an intake call with us at The Mental Game Clinic today.

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