Power Up

5 Essential Strategies to Beat Fatigue and Supercharge Your Day

Good Morning!

Welcome to Wednesday’s edition of Daily Self. For my new readers, I use Wednesdays to focus on physical self-care topics. Today, I want to cover a physical topic that’s closely related to yesterday’s discussion around Inertia, the super negative voice you hear whenever you attempt to change parts of your identity.

Btw, when I picture Inertia, I always see Rachel Dratch doing Debbie Downer from SNL (one of the best SNL characters of ALL TIME) 😂

Here’s what’s inside…

1. Morning Microdose: Power Up

2. Myth of the Day: Your body can adapt to a lack of sleep and function normally without any negative consequences.

3. Action Item: Diary for a week

Just a reminder that if you haven’t already, enter to win our Self-Care Giveaway by taking 1 minute to answer our poll questions and share this newsletter.

Let’s get into it…

(1) Morning Microdose

Power Up

I typically write Daily Self the night before it it goes out, and as I sit here writing what you’re reading now, my eyelids are getting heavier and heavier. I’ve been cutting off caffeine after 3PM, so I’m running purely on stored energy and 4 spoonfuls of Nerdy Nuts. If you get nothing else out of this newsletter today besides an awareness of Nerdy Nuts, I will still be satisfied. Thanks, Anastasia, for the getting me hooked!

Try this ☝ (and no, this post is not sponsored by Nerdy Nuts)

Several people have said to me lately that they are surprised I have the stamina to write a daily newsletter, day-after-day (night-after-night), especially since I have some other businesses and projects that I’m working on, and I’m a single dad.

Here’s how I do it: I’m competitive AF and I refuse to let fatigue beat me.

Father Time vs Father Fatigue

One of my favorite authors and athletes is David Goggins, a hard-as-a-rock, heart-of-gold type of guy who constantly challenges the status quo, despite being well into his 40s. David had this to say about time versus fatigue:

“Father Time doesn’t get you, it’s Father Fatigue. It’s that everyday waking up grind.”

I agree with David, and see time as a fixed absolute in the universe; whereas fatigue is not. Said another way: you can reverse fatigue; you cannot reverse time (unless you are Marty McFly or have a great plastic surgeon).

The connection between Inertia and fatigue lies in the fact that both can influence each other and create a cycle. When you experience fatigue, you may feel a stronger sense of Inertia or resistance to engaging in activities that require effort. Conversely, Inertia can contribute to fatigue by preventing you from engaging in activities that could help alleviate fatigue.

Physical Strategies to Reverse Fatigue

NOTE: It’s not always possible to reverse fatigue entirely, but you can counteract it.

1. Healthy diet of vegetables and protein, with a 2:1 ratio of fruit and grains (i.e. for every 1 serving of vegetables and/or proteins, I eat ½ serving of fruit or grains). I find that this ratio works well for me and keeps my sugar intake moderate to low.

2. Daily exercise. For me, this is some kind of movement every day, no matter what. Unless I’m training for something specific, it varies day to day, and a week’s movements can look like weight-lifting 3X per week; dancing 5X; trail running 1X; and walking the dog 7X. Daily exercise helps you maintain your mobility, keeping your muscles supple and joints flexible.

3. Sleep: Ok, I know this is obvious. But seriously, if you want to grind day in-day out, you need sleep. Figure out your peak productivity times (mine are mornings from 9AM-12PM and evenings 8PM-11PM) and plan your sleep cycle around those peak times. For me, I shoot for bedtime at 11:30PM and wake-up 7:30AM (I personally need 8 hours).

4. Joyful activities: Do something fun regularly. Grinding can take a mental toll and if your mind doesn’t have a way to blow off steam, it won’t be able to stay the course. I highly recommend your joyful activity not be watching TV or scrolling on your phone. Plan joyful activities around human connection, movement, nature, and physical experiences.

5. Reflect on the things you put in your body: I believe that everyone has the right to choose their own path in life without judgement, as long as they are not hurting others. For myself, however, I found that drinking wine and other alcoholic beverages made it impossible to push through fatigue and made me depressed because I felt like I wasn’t doing anything (i.e. the vicious cycle). Take a moment to reflect on things you put in your body and whether they are serving you or holding you back.

This is not an exhaustive list by any means; however, I find that these strategies are my top 5 for pushing through fatigue and overcoming Inertia. Add in a positive mindset and Nerdy Nuts, and I feel like I can go the distance day after day, night after night.

(2) Myth of the Day

In reality, a lack of sleep takes a toll on both your brain and body, and research has found both short- and long-term negative effects of sleep deprivation. Your body does not adapt to a lack of sleep, and after a few nights of insufficient sleep, you are likely to feel sleepier during the day.

(3) Action Item

If any of the areas above stood out to you as being an area you’d like to improve in, take a week and keep a diary of your activities. For example, exercise. Keep track of how exercising or not exercising affects your energy levels for a week.

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