9 energy hacks for people who hate being told to “sleep more” or “stress less”

It’s 1:30pm on a Wednesday. Your energy has completely tanked.

You’ve got a two-hour meeting coming up, an inbox stacking up like badly played Jenga, and dinner somehow still needs to happen at 6pm for your family. What’s your move?

If you’re like most people, you grab another coffee, grit your teeth, and soldier on. I call this JPT: Just Push Through. It was my signature move throughout 2024, right up until my body decided it was done cooperating.

So I decided to write a book to solve my problems (such a cliche, I know). I spent two years reading 1000+ research papers, testing strategies on myself, and eventually recruiting around 1300 exhausted volunteers to try what I was uncovering. On average, the tools led to a 40% boost in energy in five days.

Here are nine of them.

1. Name your emotion

When you’re stressed or overwhelmed, your brain is burning emotional energy trying to process what you’re feeling. The fix is oddly simple: name it. Research on “affect labelling” shows that putting a precise word on an emotion dials down its intensity almost immediately - and frees up mental resources you didn’t realise were tied up. The Feelings Wheel gives you granular options beyond “stressed” or “fine.” Print one out. Stick it somewhere visible. I have one on my fridge, which has also been particularly helpful as a parenting hack too.

2. Take a light shower

Bright morning light is your brain’s “on switch.” Ten to fifteen minutes of outdoor light in the first couple of hours after waking signals your brain to stop producing the sleep hormone melatonin and get on with the day. On a grey morning, sitting next to a window still works - outdoor light beats indoor lighting by a factor of ten. Dog walkers, for the record, have significantly better sleep patterns than non-dog walkers. Those assertive dogs who beg for a morning walk are doing their owners a favour they don’t fully appreciate.

3. Take your shoes off

Your feet have around 200,000 nerve endings. When you seal them inside shoes all day, you’re cutting off a rich stream of sensory information your brain finds genuinely restorative. Researchers from the University of Exeter found that a ten-minute barefoot walk left people 24% more psychologically restored than those who walked the same route in shoes. Grass, sand or earth all work. Even standing barefoot in your backyard for a few minutes works wonders.

4. Walk 30–45 minutes after eating

That 3pm slump most people blame on Mondays is usually a blood glucose crash from lunch. Monday is innocent. Your white bread sandwich is not.

A 10-15 minute walk taken 30-45 minutes after eating significantly reduces glucose spikes and the crashes that follow. It doesn’t need to be vigorous - a lap around the office building counts, as does wandering to a colleague’s desk to ask something you absolutely could have emailed.

5. Sniff peppermint

One study found that a one-minute burst of peppermint scent reduced tiredness by 38% and cut fatigue-related brain activity by 13%. Another found that peppermint scent released intermittently kept participants 46% more alert over two hours. A roll-on peppermint oil stick costs around $10. I have one on my desk. It raises questions from visitors, which I welcome because the explanation is so wonderfully nerdy.

6. Splash cold water on your face

A couple of minutes of cold water on your face activates the mammalian dive reflex - which sounds dramatic for what is essentially splashing yourself in a bathroom sink, but the effect is signifcant: your heart rate drops, your nervous system calms, and blood floods to the brain for an immediate alertness boost.

It’s the least photogenic energy strategy in this list. It also consistently works.

7. Have a nanna nap (without the grogginess)

Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) is a form of guided relaxation that brings you to the edge of sleep without crossing into it. A 2024 study found that ten minutes of NSDR produced a 43% reduction in negative emotions, a 73% drop in tension, and a 13% increase in energy. Unlike an actual nap, it doesn’t interfere with your night-time sleep or leave you foggy and confused. Search “ten-minute NSDR” on YouTube. If anyone catches you with your eyes closed at your desk, tell them you’re engaged in scientifically validated cognitive enhancement.

8. Watch something that makes you feel small

Psychologists call it awe - that goosebump-inducing feeling you get when confronted with something vast. And it turns out awe is a powerful energy tool. Across 14 studies with more than 4000 people, even brief awe experiences (watching footage of Earth from space, looking at images of natural wonders, listening to a piece of music that moves you) reduced stress, lowered inflammation and expanded people’s sense of time. And that last one is particularly important for our energy reserves: when we feel time-pressured, our energy contracts. Awe reverses it. The minimum viable dose is one minute. I keep a playlist of Bach going for exactly this purpose.

9. Disappear for an hour

Ghost Mode is the practice of being completely uncontactable - no notifications, no messages, no one able to reach you. Psychologists call it psychological detachment, and people who can genuinely disconnect from demands tend to experience lower stress, better sleep and clearer thinking. The goal is one hour, several times a week. If that sounds terrifying, start with 30 minutes. Tell the people you live with beforehand, unless you want someone calling the neighbours. Most things that feel urgent can wait 60 minutes.

Tell me in the comments: which one/s have you tried, or do you plan to try today?