As you’re reading this, are you reaching for your second coffee?
Maybe you’re looking for something sweet to give yourself a boost, or you’ve noticed you use worry, tight deadlines or even social media to get enough energy to make it to the next task. For many people, these little “pick-me-ups” have become so normal they don’t even notice they’re relying on them.
But tired doesn’t have to be normal. We simply fall into patterns where it becomes our normal.
One of the most common patterns I see is what I call tired but wired.
It shows up differently for different people. Some people think they have great energy until they stop and completely crash. Others struggle to get going in the morning but suddenly come alive at night, only to find they can’t sleep. Some people simply carry a background level of fatigue that never really changes.
While these experiences look different, they’re usually the same underlying pattern.
At some point the body is using more energy than it has available, so it begins compensating through the nervous system. The nervous system is incredibly good at keeping you functioning. It uses stress hormones and adrenaline to help you keep going when your energy stores are low.
The problem is that this is a very expensive way to create energy.
Instead of building reserves, you’re constantly borrowing from tomorrow just to get through today.
One of the biggest challenges is that when you finally decide to do something about your energy, you can actually feel worse before you feel better.
As the nervous system starts to unwind, the adrenaline begins reducing. Instead of feeling energised, you may suddenly notice how tired you really are.
Most people interpret this as a sign that what they’re doing isn’t working, so they stop. They go back to the coffee, the sugar, the stress or whatever gives them a temporary lift and tell themselves they’ll deal with the energy problem later.
What the body really needs is a systematic approach that allows it to unwind first and then rebuild.
Unwinding almost always happens quicker than rebuilding, and initially that can feel like a problem. It can feel like you’ve gone backwards, when in reality your body is simply no longer relying on stress to keep you functioning.
Fatigue can begin for many different reasons. Poor digestion, inflammation, immune challenges, poor sleep, chronic stress and many other factors can all leave the body low in energy. While the causes may be different, they often end up in the same place.
The body doesn’t have enough energy to do everything it needs to do, so it starts prioritising survival. Once that happens, the nervous system begins shutting down the “optional extras” to redirect energy where it believes it’s needed most.
Digestion slows.
Healing slows.
Immune function changes.
Breathing becomes less efficient.
And the body slowly becomes less efficient overall.
The first step is to unwind the nervous system. As this happens, all of those systems begin to switch back on.
Digestion improves.
Breathing becomes calmer.
Healing becomes more efficient.
As efficiency improves, the body begins producing more available energy, and over time it starts rebuilding its reserves instead of constantly compensating.
During this transition, one question becomes incredibly important:
How well do I recover?
If the body is becoming healthier, recovery should improve, even before you notice a dramatic increase in energy.
- If you become anxious, do you recover quicker?
- If you’re tired, do you recover better after resting?
- If you wake during the night, do you get back to sleep more easily?
- If you become overwhelmed, do you settle quicker?
Recovery is one of the best ways to measure whether your system is becoming more efficient.
One of the biggest mistakes people make is measuring themselves against the end goal instead of where they’ve come from.
They ask, “Am I still tired?” instead of looking at everything that’s changing.
If your sleep is improving, your digestion is improving and your anxiety is settling, chances are your body is moving in the right direction, even if your energy hasn’t fully returned yet.
It’s also important to remember that when energy starts becoming available again, the body often uses it to repair things you can’t see. It may direct that energy towards resolving inflammation, supporting the immune system or healing tissues before it gives you extra energy for work or exercise.
On top of that, most people naturally start using the extra energy they do have. They become more active, catch up on jobs they’ve been avoiding and begin living life again.
So if your only measure is, “Am I still tired?” you can easily miss the progress that’s already taking place.
At its core, improving energy comes down to two simple principles: minimise waste and maximise efficiency.
The biggest drains on your energy are an overactive nervous system, poor sleep, chronic inflammation and ongoing immune stress.
The biggest contributors to good energy are a balanced nervous system, restful sleep, healthy digestion, efficient breathing and a body that moves well.
The body creates energy from food and oxygen. If digestion and breathing are working well, you have a strong foundation for good energy.
There are many things that can affect these systems, but don’t make the process more complicated than it needs to be.
Start with the basics.
- Aim for a healthy appetite in the morning.
- Regular, well-formed bowel motions.
- Slow, calm breathing.
Work with your body rather than fighting it.
Understand what you’re trying to achieve from a whole-body perspective, create a process that supports the body’s natural ability to heal, and implement it slowly and consistently while asking one simple question along the way:
How well do I recover?
If you’d like to better understand how your body is functioning and where your biggest opportunities for improvement are, complete our Thriving Scorecard.
It’s free, takes just a few minutes and will help you identify where your efforts are likely to make the biggest difference.
Take the Thriving Scorecard Quiz
Warmly,
Joel Delaney & the Paddington Clinic Team
