Are Your Energy Levels as Unpredictable as Mine?
Trying to get a grip and make sense of it all; in the end it's mindfulness and checking in with myself that makes all the difference.
What words come to your mind when you think about your energy levels? Mine are: inconsistent, unpredictable, frustrating.
I can have a perfect routine laid out for a day or a week, and sometimes it feels like magic and everything flows and it’s coming together. And at other times, I try really really hard to stay on track, and to take plenty of breaks, and to stay hydrated, and to move my body in between, and things just don’t happen the way I need them to.
You know that feeling when you’re so determined though, to follow the plan, you hold on tight, because this just. has. to. fucking. happen. today; and then you try extra hard, spending even more of your energy, but, it doesn’t get better? It feels so frustrating; and slowly, that frustration turns into hopelessness and whatever the proper emotions term is for "fuck it, I give up”.
Yeah, not great, but it’s the reality sometimes.
You may have read in one of my previous posts about the Neurodivergent Spoon Drawer, which is an adaptation of the spoon theory to neurodivergence. It addresses the inconsistency related to available spoons and invites us to consider how many spoons we have available in a specific area such as: social, sensory, executive functioning, physical, mental, emotional, creative, etc.
What impacts our levels of energy?
Mood, what we eat, medication, caffeine, what is happening in the world, social commitments, sleep, for some of us, our menstrual cycle, the weather, seasons, stress, workload, relationships, and so much more. Having a neurodivergent brain and nervous system is most definitely a factor for me and many others.
To make things a bit more complex, fluctuations happen over different time periods. There are daily, weekly, monthly, probably even annual and seasonal energy cycles.
Yikes, where to begin to try and manage fluctuating energy levels?
Earlier this year, I tried to make sense of it all by tracking my daily energy level over a longer period of time to try to identify patterns and see how it related to my menstrual cycle, medication I was taking, and my quality of sleep.
My experiment lasted for about a month and this is what I learned:
It was hard to assign an overall daily average because on some days I had super high energy in the morning but crashed in the afternoon. More granular data would have been helpful.
My sleep quality was better than I thought (If you had asked me, I would have said I don’t sleep well, ever, but it turns out I had quite a few restful “meh” nights (not terrible, not great).
Tracking it felt like a chore and I was constantly hyper-aware about my energy levels, wondering what “final score” I’d give myself that day. I don’t think that was particularly helpful.
Overall, I didn’t really find any useful patterns. I’m guessing that’s in part because my metrics are incomplete - I didn’t account for all of the different factors. I started to wonder if the approach was even the right one. The idea was: if only I understood all of the things that impact my energy, I could predict it and plan accordingly!
Bottom line, it was an interesting experiment, but I didn’t make any changes as a result. So that was a bust.
Since then, I’ve found two ideas or mindset shifts that have been helpful for me.
Daily Energy Levels
The first idea I want to share is to track daily energy levels and to make small shifts accordingly.
For a couple of weeks, I tried to pay attention to patterns in my daily energy levels. I was hesitant at first after my previous experiment that didn’t result in any meaningful changes. I lowered my expectations (such a magical trick!) and just started to note on a piece of paper what I noticed about my energy levels throughout the day. This wasn’t super precise, but proved to be insightful. After two weeks or so, I saw a few patterns:
My mental energy is highest in the morning.
At 11:30am I experience a dip in energy, but it depends on what activity I am doing.
2:30pm is definitely a low point.
At 4pm, energy levels increase again (I am creative and present).
Some unexpected realizations followed: I noticed a sense of frustration that my high mental energy points are around the time it’s my job to get my children ready for the school day and after I pick them up from school and it’s time to start working on dinner. I also realized that that I had this idea in my head that tasks like emptying and re-loading the dishwasher and tidying up around the house were best done as part of my morning routine - but I was in fact wasting my high mental energy time.
As a result, here are some tiny shifts I made to honor my energy cycle:
#1: A mindset shift: I now appreciate my morning energy. How nice is it that I have energy in the mornings to be present and patient(ish) with my kids?
#2: Save easy, but no-fun tasks for low energy times (dishwasher + podcast).
#3: If possible, use high energy time (right after school drop off) for writing, thinking, creating.
#4: Spend time outside with my dog at my mental energy low point in the afternoon.
Self-Compassion
The second idea I want to share is a mindful, self-compassionate approach that allows me to go with the flow and adjust in the moment.
Overall, what I am trying to do at the moment is to go with the flow; to lean into my energy levels. Yes, it requires a bit more mindfulness and checking in, and that takes practice (and self-compassion, especially when we don’t pay attention until it’s too late), but it’s another way I feel more connected and in sync with myself.
I ask: What does my body / my mind need right now?
It could be: I need to lay down with noise cancelling headphones and walk away from everything for a moment.
Or: I have this idea and I need to put it on paper and write about it. Now.
Or: I want to read this book and learn more about this topic.
Or: I would feel really good in an hour if I got some work on my assignment done.
It’s all a work in progress and I recognize that not everyone has the privilege to just take a nap when their body is needing one. I’m hoping this sparks some ideas though for how we can pay attention to our energy cycles and energy levels and make small adjustments to honor those.
I want to leave you with some reflection questions.
What factors impact your energy levels?
What activities help you feel energized?
What activities help you feel well rested?
Pay attention to your energy level throughout the day for a few days. What patterns do you notice?
What small shifts can you make to honor your energy cycle?
Try leaning into your energy needs. What shifts do you notice? How does it feel? Notice your self-talk; what do you hear?
Try asking yourself: What do I need right now? What does my body need right now? What does my mind need? My brain?
To explore these questions with me, you can now book a sample 60 minute coaching session. Self awareness is the first step to making meaningful change.
Hanna, I think I referenced some of your articles in my latest post!!
This post is aptly timed. I’ve been feeling sluggish and frustrated with myself lately. Tracking daily energy, and reorganizing the day around that, is a great idea. Going to try to be mindful of my patterns this week. Thanks for the inspiration.