7 Ways to Be Productive Even When You're Tired

Published Mar 25, 2022, 7:00 AM

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Too tired to work. Too tired to move around. Too tired to just do anything. When you’re too exhausted you lack the energy to finish what you need to do, you lose the chance to accomplish important tasks and it only leads to more stress and frustration. It becomes a stumbling block, that when left alone and unaddressed, can become problematic and may affect your routines.

In this episode of On Purpose, Jay Shetty shares with us the best practices that can help us regain our strength and replenish our energy to remain productive.

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Key Takeaways:

  • 00:00 Intro
  • 01:03 Take a break when you feel too tired
  • 05:26 Tip #1: Genuinely clear about how much energy you need
  • 14:20 Tip #2: Try getting a shower to freshen up
  • 15:57 Tip #3: Listen to music
  • 17:16 Tip #4: Exercise
  • 19:03 Tip #5: Use standing desk
  • 20:25 Tip #6: Practice power naps
  • 22:15 Five things to do in five minutes between meetings
  • 23:30 Tip #7: Do it then reward yourself

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Sometimes you can be productive, but it doesn't mean that you're effective. Productive means you get a lot of things done. Effective means you get big, important things done. And I find that when I'm exhausted and I'm tired, I struggle to do those effective things, even if I'm able to do a lot of things and check them off. Hey, everyone, welcome back to On Purpose, the number one health podcast in the world. Thanks to each and every one of you that come back every week to listen, learn and grow. Now I'm going to be honest with you. It's nine fifteen PM and I have been working around fourteen to fifteen hours a day this past week. I am tired. I am really, really tired. And today's episode is inspired by that. The truth is, if you've been overworking, get some sleep. If you're on the verge of burnout, please please please speak to a doctor, speak to a medical professional, take a break. The reason I'm recording this episode and podcast is because I often think that we sometimes get into these situations where we've overworked a little bit. We need to push through that last little step. But I would say that if you can get sleep right now, if you can get rest right now, please please take it. This is for those of you who know that you just need to push a little bit further, and I'm going to give you some advice that will help you push through. But I still want you to get some sleep. Now, Why am I tired? I flew to Egypt for twenty four hours. Just so you know, there is a connecting flight from la to Egypt. It takes in total, door to door, probably around twenty six hours. I was in Egypt for exactly twenty four hours, and then I came back. I went for work, I came back, went to a work dinner. The moment I came back, showered, went to that dinner, came back, woke up the next morning, and started a full work week. And then, because it's the week before the Oscars, had a lot of events to attend. In the evening work dinners, i'd client meetings, lots of different things going on, and in the daytime, I was recording podcasts, interviewing amazing guests. It's been a fulfilling week. It's been an amazing week. I feel so grateful that I've had this week. But the reality is also to accept that I'm tired. Now. I know you can relate to this. I know so many of you listening right now a feeling like Jay. I am tired too, I am exhausted too. Maybe you've had too much on at the weekends. Maybe your family was just in town, maybe you've been going through some personal stuff, whatever it is, I'm so glad you chose to be here, and I'm so happy that we get to try and talk about this together so that I can share some insights that help keep me going when this is going on in my life. So studies show that around fifty percent of people report feeling tired between three and seven days a week. The results also reveal a gender gap. Women were sleepy on an average of three point four days a week and men were tired two point seven days on average. Now, only sixteen percent of respondents reported not feeling sleepy at all during a typical week. Sleepiness cited by fifty eight percent of all respondents. Most commonly affected respondents mood, followed by the willingness to go out in the evening, ability to focus and exercise, and productivity. Now, the most common coping strategy, studies say is to shake it off and keep going. Sixty two percent of respondent said that, followed by getting fresh air which was thirty five percent, drinking coffee with thirty three percent. You know who you are, and those are not the strategies I'm going to be sharing in today's episode. Why because I believe that there are a different set of habits that I practice, that I look upon, that I try and embody when I am in this position now, I don't allow myself, I would like to say, to get into this position very often. I'll make sure that I rested the weekends and I'll recoup. I make sure that I get some extra early sleep the night before. So this is a rare occurrence for me, but nevertheless, I have a plan for when this happens. I've been working every weekend for the past month, and so I've been a little out of sync with my schedule, and therefore I have to have a plan now. The reasons that people say they are struggling with their energy is long work hours fifty three another thing, obviously during the lockdown, we're staying indoors, too much screen time is tiring for people, and a lack of regular routine. These were the leading causes for prolonged feelings of exhaustion. So today I'm going to share with you the habits and practices I use to help me when I need to get work done, even when I'm tired or exhausted. The first thing that I do is that I'm genuinely clear about how much energy this is truly going to require. I ask myself how much energy is this truly going to require? Because when I'm tired, often we're not able to properly associate time and space. How many of you, when you're tired, feel you make bad decisions? Right when we feel fatigued, when we feel exhaustion, we make poor decisions. How do we make better decisions by actually trying to get accurate by thinking about how much energy this task that we need to accomplish is genuinely going to require, and we have to base it on how much energy it's taken in the past, if we've done the task before, and when we're honest about the energy, we can then check in with ourselves and ask ourselves, can I rise to that energy level? Can I bring it to that energy level? And the question even more succinctly is what is the minimum energy required to do this? Often when we're tired, we're thinking this thing's going to take maximum energy, but it's not what is the minimum energy that this thing is going to require from us to complete? Because can we rise to that minimum energy is really the question that you have to ask, Now, what do you do with that? Chances are you too tired, so you're thinking, oh, well, you know, I'm probably not gonna give the right answer, and I'm probably not going to make the right decision. One of my favorite things is this time is to go and grab a couple of dates. What I love about grabbing a couple of dates is that dates are high in natural sugars. So if you need a quick burst of energy, instead of going for a second cup of coffee, go for a handful of dates. And if you don't like them playing, you can actually make some energy balls or put them into oatmeal bars. The thing about dates is that they have an excellent nutrition profile, says Healthline. Since they're dried, their calorie content is higher than most fresh fruit. The calorie content of dates is similar to that of other dried fruits such as raisins and figs, and they're high in fiber, with almost seven grams of fiber in a three point five out serving. Including dates in your diet is a great way to increase your fiber intake. So for me, grabbing those dates before I make a decision to assess the amount of energy I have is a fantastic way to know how I'm going to feel when I take on this next task that I have in front of me. The reason why this is fascinating is that they found this research in a study of judges in a courtroom. They found that judges gave more lenient sentences after lunch than they did just before lunch. When judges gave sentences just before lunch, those people received the harshest sentences because judges were likely hungry, thirsty and waiting to eat. They had lost their energy, they were feeling a sense of fatigue, so they made poorer decisions now when they were able to go and get lunch in them. When they came back, now that they were feeling fresh and alert, this sentences changed. Now that's obviously worrying to hear in a courtroom, but the same thing applies to us. If we're doing decision based activities, we need to make sure we've eaten, We need to make sure we have some energy. If we're trying to do discipline based activities. We need to be careful about knowing how much energy we need so that we don't overexert. Now, another thing I'm going to say is how do you get work done when you're tired or exhausted? Is that you perform easier or harder tasks. Now, this is something I want you to think about, reflect on, and understand about yourself. Some of us get energy from doing harder tasks first, and some of us get energy from doing easier tasks first. We all feel different ways of momentum, and you only know this by observing yourself. I use someone who feels like, yes, I've got the first task of the day done. It was easy, it was simple. I'm done. Now I feel confident to move on. Or you say to yourself, you know what, if I accomplish this, I can do anything right. So you're going to start with the hardest. Neither is right or wrong. There used to be a time when I thought either raw, But I've started to realize that everyone's mind works so differently that it's so important for us to be aware. So I find that I like to start my day doing something difficult. It may be a cold shower. It may be a cold plunge, something that makes me feel like I can accomplish the rest of the day. I did say that you could start with easy or harder first, because we are all different, but studies do show that doing the easy thing first can be less productive. The idea is reinforced by behavioral research that shows that starting with easier tasks first is not helpful overall. Studies say that the data shows this is the case, even though it can initially feel good to take the path of least resistance in an attempt to get the ball rolling. The human brain is wide to feel positive about short term rewards, so we're more inclined to take actions that result in gaining those short term rewards, and hardest tasks require you to be more patient, to be more resilient. The stress of putting off a difficult task negatively affects productivity towards all other tasks performed. So because you keep putting off that hard task and you keep trying to get these quick wins, these quick dopamine hits, you can often set yourself up for just stress and pressure of putting something off again and again and again. The other thing we have to realize is that studies show that after a fifty hour work week. Scientists have found that the work output of an employee workforce drops off a cliff once the number of hours passes fifty five hours, work output is almost nil due to exhaustion. So we really have to take a look at our whole week and ask ourselves, are we really pushing too far too often? The study is going to say that the impact of this decline in being effective is that people who work seventy hours a week are achieving next to nothing in the extra fifteen hours they choose to work. Now, I can relate, and I would debate that also, I feel like I can be effective and productive. Actually, let me explain that sometimes you can be productive, but it doesn't mean that you're effective. Productive means you get a lot of things done. Effective means you get big, important things done. And I find that when I'm exhausted and I'm tired, I struggle to do those effective things, even if I'm able to do a lot of things and check them off. We've been getting so many amazing reviews for The Daily Jay, my new daily guided meditation series on the car map. You might have heard a couple of snippets on the podcast for a few weeks, so in case you haven't had the chance to check it out, I just wanted to share this review from Caitlin, an elementary school teacher from New Jersey. He's what she had to say. I have over nine years of experience in the American public school education system, including teaching throughout the pandemic. Over the past two years, I've seen extreme cases of anxiety in my students like never before. Many of these children have never experienced these feelings before, and most are not even sure of what they are feeling. My school district has spent a great deal of time focusing on social emotional learning SEL through this school year. We try to teach coping skills and focus on teaching kids how to deal with their feelings and become the best version of themselves. As someone who has also been experiencing the many anxieties of the world today, I have recently downloaded the car mapp thanks to my mom. My mom and I are big fans of yours, and once she heard that you will have seven minutes of daily Jay each day, she encouraged me in doing this. Your meaningful ideas and meditation have quickly become part of my daily routine, so much that I've begun incorporating some of them into my sel morning meetings with my third graders. If you've ever wanted to meditate with me, join me on the car map for the Daily Jay, a daily guided meditation where I'll help you find calm in the chaos, plant beautiful intentions for a happy, abundant life and simple steps for positive actions to get you closer to the life of your dreams. Meditate with me by going to calm dot com forward slash Jay to get forty percent off a Calm Premium membership that's only forty two dollars for the whole year for a daily guided meditation experience the Daily JA only on Calm Now. One of my other habits that I love to do when I'm trying to get work done when I'm feeling tired is get a shower. I remember turning up to an event and I'd been asked to go on stage at nine thirty pm. That is my bedtime. Can you imagine I get to an event, there's thousands of people in the audience, I'm asked to go on stage in nine thirty PM and in my head, I'm thinking it's going to be my bedtime. How do I wake up? And sometimes I'm jetlagged two the other way where I'm really tired at that time. One of my favorite tips so this time is to take a shower. I know it sounds obvious, but a cold showers. Wow. Taking a shower can refresh you in the best way. So the studies say that, aside from boosting your mood, research suggests that bathing can reduce inflammation, help you sleep better, soothe muscle problems, and help with depression. There's a reason that a cult shower wakes you up in the morning, studies say, as the lower temperature increases oxygen intake and heart rate to release blood through the body. So taking a shower can be a huge wind towards working even when you're feeling tired. Now there's also a habit element here. You're used to taking a shower at the start of the day, and now you're able to perform. When you take a shower, it's almost like a mental note or a mental rewiring to say, let's start again, Let's start the day again. This has been a huge tip and trick for me that has helped me when I'm really, really, truly feeling exhausted. Now, the next tip that I want to share with you is the music that you listen to. I remember learning about something called the Mozart effect, which is listening to classical music, and it's incredible. You think this would put you to sleep, but actually it can help you be more productive because it can help you become more focused. And one of the biggest reasons is because classical music doesn't have lyrics, which means you can't sing along, you can't get distracted. You can actually just move at the pace of the music. Nature sounds, again have been sown to remove distraction. When you listen to nature sounds, you still feel like you're attentive, but you still feel like you can focus. Often we don't realize that you can build your own distraction right. Music is like building your own distraction. Your mind is enough to be entertained by, but you actually are able to focus. Now. Some reasons suggest that it's not the type of music that it's important, but it's actually music between fifty and eighty beats per minute. Doctor Emma Gray, a cognitive behavioral therapist, worked with Spotify to research the benefits of certain types of music. She found that listening to music set in the fifty to eighty beat range puts the brain into an alpha state. Now there's an interesting one that's next, and it's exercise. I missed the first day of the week this week for exercise because I was too tired. Rarely do I allow myself to do that, and I was so happy when I got back to it. Now, how did you make that decision? Everyone's thinking, Jay, how did you decide to either go to the gym or not go to the gym? And here's how I'm going to tell you. I made the decision. If I'm feeling unwell, when I'm exhausted or tired, I will choose to do low intensity workouts. I'll choose to do workouts that are not stressful on my nervous system. If I'm just feeling lazy, and then I'll force myself to go and continue on. Now, how do you know if you're feeling tired, exhausted, or lazy? How do you truly know that. I've been trying to ask myself this question. I know that I'm lazy when I'm thinking about how I feel right now, not how I'm going to feel after I go to the gym, and I'd say more often than not, I know I'm going to feel great after the gym. Now, the difference between tiredness and exhaustion is that you're feeling in your body, not just your mind. So how is your body feeling is how is your mind and head feeling? Are your muscles aching? Is your body feeling heavy or tense? Now that does mean you shouldn't go to the gym. I'm just saying that when you're on that verge of being truly exhausted, it is important to give yourself good sleep. But the key to that is sleeping earlier. Right, the human growth hormone also known as HGH is more active in the early hours of sleep and ideally before midnight, so that earlier you can get to sleep tonight, the better you're going to feel. The next tip is something that's become trendy recently, which is using standing desks. But the idea to stand and John Paulson talks about a twenty eleven study by the CDC that noted a fifty four percent decrease in musclo skeletal pain among workers who alternated from sitting to standing throughout the day, and John Paulson also talked about another study in twenty fourteen by the University of Cincinnati that reported significant decreases in shoulder and back pain when participants varied their postures. He went on to say that when we sit for too long, everything in our bodies slows down. John Paulson said it's harder to clear fats from blood, to process insulin to keep muscles active and spines flexible, leading to soreness and possible organ damage. He went on to say that even our mental functions slow because we're not moving enough to pump much blood to the brain. So even while I'm doing this podcast right now, I'm stretching upwards, I'm raising my hands above my head and pushing my hands behind me. I'm rolling my shoulders. The idea of moving when we're tired is counterintuitive, but it can be so powerful to grasp the energy to increase more energy in the body when you are feeling tired. The next tip is something I'm going to share that I'm experimenting with right now. It's something I've never done in my life, but I'm starting to realize that it may be something to play around with. It's the idea of napping. So studies show that naps lasting ten to twenty minutes are considered the ideal length. They're sometimes referred to as power naps because they provide recovery benefits without leaving the nap of feeling sleepy afterward. Now, some of the benefits of napping, study show include reducing sleepiness, improving learning, aiding memory formation, and regulating emotions. Again, that decision making is improved through napping, so the Sleep Foundation shared some really great tips on how to get an ideal nap. The first is to set an alarm. Studies show that the best nap length for most people is about ten to twenty minutes. This provides restorative sleep without drowsiness after waking up. The other thing is to nap early. Sleep Foundation says napping late in the day can affect your ability to fall asleep at bedtime. Try napping around halfway point between the time you wake up and the time you plan to go to bed. Usually you might think, well, that's a waste of time, like, oh my gosh, if I fall asleep and then what if I don't wake up again, that's gonna be hard right. But here's the thing. You've got to remind yourself that it's not just about being awake, it's not just about getting it done. It's again going back to the first thing I said, what energy do you need to make this decision or complete this task? If it is something that requires your best energy, that requires your focused approach, all going to be required to take that rest. Do not ignore this advice because it's so easy to think, well, I just need to get this done, Jay, I'm so busy, I just need to make this happen. Sometimes taking a break and a pause can be the best thing you can do. One of my favorite things is to create a five minute gap between each of my meetings. In that five minutes, So if my meeting finishes at ten thirty, the next one starts at ten thirty five. If my meeting finishes at eleven, the next one starts at eleven h five. Or make all your meetings fifty five minutes. I don't know who invented this idea that your meetings had to be an hour. They could be thirty minutes, they could be seventeen, they could be twenty five, they could be forty five. But we've become these people who set thirteen minute or sixty minute meetings. Make them fifty five minutes, make them twenty five minutes, and in that five minutes, do these five things. Stand up, walk, hydrate, look out into the distance, and stretch. Right, those are the five things you do in five minutes. Notice how pulling out your phone was not one of them. Stand up, walk about, hydrate, look at the distance, and stretch. These are five habits that you need to do in the five minutes between meetings so you don't carry the baggage of the last meeting into the next meeting. That's one of the most unhealthy things that removes our productivity, that makes us even more tired because it just keeps challenging our ability to think straight. And I'm going to share one final thing that I recommend we all do when we're feeling exhausted and tired but we need to get some work done, is do it and then reward yourself. Get it done, Do it, and then reward yourself with an early night's sleep, Reward yourself with a relaxing weekend. Plan out the reward. Not only does that give you excitement that you have something planned for after getting this work done will actually give you the relaxation you need. Thank you so much for listening to today's episode. Make sure you pass it on to someone who needs it, and come back next week for another episode of On Purpose. Thank you everyone,