Welcome to the 6-Day Energy Challenge
This week, we’ll be bringing you small ways to feel good by focusing on five science-backed ingredients for energy: rest, exercise, socializing, eating and finding enjoyment in your daily tasks. Start by taking our quiz to assess how you’re currently doing on each front, then follow along as we suggest simple daily exercises. (Consider grabbing a notebook to keep track of how each one goes — what sticks with you and what works best.)
Shared from: nytimes.com/explain/2024/energy-challenge
Day 1: A 5-minute trick for more energy
To kick off our 6-Day Energy Challenge, we’re focusing on daytime rest.
When you think about increasing your energy, getting better sleep probably comes to mind. A night of quality slumber — at least seven hours for adults — is critical for cognition and alertness. But many of us struggle to get enough, or we wake up less than refreshed.
Daytime rest, however, is a little easier to pull off. Research suggests that taking short, revitalizing breaks can help you fortify yourself throughout the day. These breaks aren’t naps, but they offer similar benefits, restoring attention, reducing fatigue and increasing vitality, and improving well-being and mood.
Prioritizing these moments is a form of preventive care, said Dr. Sue Varma, a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the N.Y.U. Grossman School of Medicine and author of the upcoming book “Practical Optimism.”
People tend to think of daytime rest as “a reward permissible only when you ‘deserve’ it,” she said. But it should be a daily health practice, just like exercising or eating well.
Carve out an ‘oasis moment.’
Today, you’ll take what Dr. Varma calls an “oasis moment,” a small respite from the literal and figurative noise around you.
Find five minutes.
First, figure out when you can take a five-minute break — long enough for you to feel refreshed, she said, but brief enough that you can actually fit it in.
Dr. Varma recommends doing it before your energy levels dip. It might seem counterintuitive, but research suggests that rest can be more effective at restoring your energy when it’s taken before you are tired, as opposed to after.
For people who keep a regular daytime schedule, midmorning is the best time, said Cindy Wu, a professor at Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business who studies workplace breaks. At that point, she said, “you’ve only depleted a little bit of the resources, so it’s easier to get them back.”
That said, if your morning is booked (or if you work nights and sleep during the day), taking an oasis moment at any time has benefits, Dr. Varma said.
Seek out a calming spot.
Mute your phone or leave it in another room. If you’re home, find a quiet place that’s comfortable for sitting, Dr. Varma said. If you’re at work, scout out a relatively peaceful location — a seat in the cafeteria or break room, a bench outside, or even your car if you drive to work. The setting is less important than your intention to take a few minutes for yourself, she added.
In fact, you don’t need to sit, or even be quiet. Dr. Wu’s findings suggest that it doesn’t matter what you do on your break — it could be a five-minute walk or a quick coffee — as long as it’s time spent away from work doing something you enjoy. “We found that the key characteristic to make that break replenishing was that choice, that autonomy,” Dr. Wu said.
Experiment with ‘wakeful relaxation.’
Take some slow, deep breaths. Doing this for five minutes can help you feel less depleted.
This should not be confused with meditation, Dr. Varma said. An oasis moment isn’t rigid. Aim for a state of what she calls “wakeful relaxation” — you should feel calmer but still alert. Try to quiet your mind, but don’t strive to zone out. You can even listen to your favorite songs while you take your break.
Afterward, notice how you feel: Are you a little more refreshed? Taking this break, Dr. Varma added, might also give you a sense of mastery and control. “You’ve made space and time for something that’s beneficial,” she said. “And you feel like you’ve achieved something for the day, similar to making your bed.”
Rest is a “highly therapeutic, untapped resource,” and the positive effects can build over time, Dr. Varma said. If you enjoyed this exercise, consider scheduling a five-minute break every day this week, and in the weeks and months following, to keep the rewards coming.
Below you’ll find a guided daytime rest exercise from Octavia Faith Ann Raheem, a meditation teacher who conducts rest retreats. She recorded it just for participants in our 6-Day Energy Challenge.
Need help resting? Try this audio exercise.
Octavia Faith Ann Raheem, author of “Pause, Rest, Be: Stillness Practices for Courage in Times of Change,” will take you through a short practice designed to leave you energized and refreshed.
Listen 5:51
Day 2: Move for 3 minutes to refresh your mind
This is Day 2 of the 6-Day Energy Challenge. To start at the beginning, click here.
When you’re wiped out, getting up and moving might sound like a real drag. But the less active we are during the day, the more fatigued we feel.
Today’s challenge is a playful, slightly silly three-minute exercise.
Why is this a crucial part of an energy challenge? Because short bursts of movement can help reduce fatigue, relieve stress and improve your mood.
As soon as you start, your heart rate goes up, increasing the supply of oxygen to your muscles and brain, said Margaret Rice, a professor of neurosurgery, neuroscience and physiology at the N.Y.U. Grossman School of Medicine. This rush, she said, might “help you feel more alert for at least a little while afterward.”
She also said that dopamine — a hormone involved in pleasure, alertness and motivation — likely increases within those three minutes of movement. Which might explain why you may feel more focused and fired up when you’re finished.
A little movement can provide health benefits beyond the energy boost, too. In a 2022 study of over 25,000 British adults, researchers found that those who did a total of three minutes of vigorous movement each day had lower mortality and risk for cardiovascular disease than those who didn’t.
Ready to start moving? You won’t need much more than your imagination.
Move like a pro.
Over the course of three minutes, you’ll imitate a boxer, a ballerina, a tennis player, a basketball player, a runner, and, to cool down, a yoga practitioner.
For over two decades, Kelly McGonigal, a health psychologist, lecturer at Stanford University and author of “The Joy of Movement,” has also been an exercise instructor — and this activity, she said, is a crowd-pleaser. It’s fun, it can be adapted for all abilities and you can wear your regular clothes.
Dr. McGonigal suggested doing this exercise first thing, to get your day off to an energetic start. But really you can do it anytime you have three minutes and need a lift.
Set the stage.
First, find a place where you can move around comfortably. Then run through each of the following for 30 seconds — for three minutes in total. (You can use the animated timer below:It will show you the next movement when it’s time to switch.)
Act like an athlete.
When you’re ready, start doing the following activities.
“Don’t overthink it, just do it,” Dr. McGonigal said. “You can’t do this wrong.”
Here are a few suggested moves to get you started:
Boxing. Throw some jabs, pretend you’re hitting a heavy bag, or alternate between fast and slow punches.
Ballet. Raise your arms above your head to form a circle. Stretch each leg forward and point your toes. Stand on tiptoe and come back down. Do a pirouette or a leap.
Tennis. Try a backhand and forehand swing. Bounce on your heels and return a volley. Throw a “ball” into the air and crush a serve.
Basketball. Dribble the “ball,” take a shot or jump into the air and block an imaginary opponent.
Running. Jog in place, pumping and swinging your arms, or throw your hands in the air and sail through the finish line (victory dance optional).
Yoga. Assume any pose or posture that makes you feel grounded, such as standing in “mountain” pose with your hands on your heart.
VideoCreditCredit…Sean Dong
At the end of the three minutes, notice how you feel. Is your heart rate up? Are you breathing more deeply? Do you have more energy? Did your mood lift a little?
I field-tested this with three generations of people, including my neighbor who is in kindergarten, my teenage nephew and my 81-year-old father. My dad balked at first, but when we began “boxing,” he couldn’t resist joining in and demonstrating an uppercut punch. During the basketball segment, my nephew crowed that he was blocking my “jump shot.” By the end, they were all laughing — and energized.
Day 3: How to eat for better energy
This is Day 3 of the 6-Day Energy Challenge. To start at the beginning, click here.
This tendency to look ahead is pretty common, said Dr. Nate Wood, a culinary medicine researcher at the Yale School of Medicine and a trained chef. But, he added, “rarely do we look back and reflect on how the foods that we eat make us feel, unless maybe our stomach is upset.”
Tuning in to how our food affects us, he said, can help us understand which foods give us energy and which make us sluggish. It can also help us eat for better energy going forward. That’s the focus of today’s challenge.
Track your energy after you eat.
The task is simple: Notice how the foods you eat make you feel. An hour and a half to two hours after you have a meal or snack, jot down any sensations you’re experiencing: Are you satisfied, tired, peckish? Then rate your energy level from one to five.
Why should you wait for an hour or two after eating? That’s when digestion is well underway, Dr. Wood said. As your meal breaks down, glucose enters your blood stream and the pancreas secretes insulin, which your cells use to absorb the glucose for energy. As your brain and gut send signals to each other about how the food is being processed, you’ll be able to get some idea of whether the food has energized you or is making you feel depleted.
Every meal doesn’t need to be viewed solely as fuel for the tank — food should also be pleasurable, of course. But paying attention to what you eat can help you feel better in the long run. Some questions to ask yourself: Was this meal mostly carbs? Was there a lot of sugar? Did I eat any protein?
One day of tracking should give you some insight into how different foods affect your energy. To get an even more accurate gauge, Dr. Wood suggested trying this exercise for the next three days. Then, if you want, you can use those clues to focus on foods (and combinations of foods) that give you energy.
Feeling inspired to make a few changes? Here are some ideas.
If you want to get more energy from your meals, there are small adjustments you can make.
Filling your plate with foods rich in fiber, complex carbs and protein can slow the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream and help prevent fatigue, Dr. Wood said. If you can weave that trifecta into your meals and snacks as much as possible, you may feel more energized.
I told Dr. Wood that I typically have a low-protein breakfast, like a fruit smoothie or a slice of whole grain toast. Two hours later, I’m usually drooping.
He suggested adding avocado along with shredded chicken and sriracha to my toast, or protein powder or a spoonful of nut butter to my smoothie, so that my energy lasts much longer.
Dr. Wood also said that “lunch and dinner foods can often be healthier than breakfast foods, and can be easier to incorporate vegetables.” This made me feel great, since one of my colleagues had recently inspired me to start eating leftovers for breakfast. She’ll have things like quinoa with stewed chickpeas and tomatoes. Now I’m aiming to do dinner for breakfast more often.
For midday snacks, Dr. Wood said to keep sources of lean protein handy to pair with complex carbs, such as whole-grain crackers with hummus or cottage cheese.
Lunches and dinners should follow the same formula, Dr. Wood said. Lunch might be a curried tuna salad sandwich with arugula on whole-grain bread, along with a handful of berries, he suggested. Dinner might be a three-bean chili with Greek yogurt and scallions, with a baked sweet potato sprinkled with cinnamon on the side.
This exercise isn’t about deprivation, but about finding a formula for a steadier energy supply, Dr. Wood said. And for the majority of people, he added, making small changes “leads to change that is more sustainable.”
Craving a delicious, sustaining snack? Try this energy bar recipe from New York Times Cooking.
This easy, customizable energy bar recipe was created by Genevieve Ko, an editor at New York Times Cooking. It’s packed with fiber, thanks to whole wheat flour and tangy dried fruit, and nuts add protein — and crunch.
Save the recipe: Energy Bars
Day 4: Identify your ‘energy vampires’ and ‘chaotic friends’
This is Day 4 of the 6-Day Energy Challenge. To start at the beginning, click here.
I once had a friend who completely sapped me. When we’d meet for dinner, she would complain nonstop — about the food, her boyfriend, the boss she couldn’t stand. Once the check came, she’d ask how I was doing, barely listen, and then gather her things to leave. Afterward, I felt like a husk.
We’ve all had relationships that felt draining and ones that lifted us up, said Nedra Glover Tawwab, a therapist and author of “Set Boundaries, Find Peace.” And we’re often so accustomed to the roles we play that we don’t reflect on how these relationships make us feel, she said.
But we should. Research suggests that relationships have a considerable positive effect on our health. Strong friendships can lower our blood pressure, protect against depression and help us live longer, while those that we’re ambivalent about can raise our blood pressure and cause anxiety. (This could include the “chaotic friend,” Tawwab said, who is always enmeshed in some sort of drama.)
Today we’re going to identify our “energy vampires,” as well as the friends who restore us. We even sought some advice from Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King, who have been best friends for around 47 years.
Conduct a friendship audit.
Make a list of your closest friends. Then, using the following prompts from Tawwab, take notes about the energy your friends supply:
- Who do you look forward to spending time with?
- Who makes you feel uplifted and understood?
- Who, if anyone, do you consistently put off seeing or dread responding to?
- Who often makes you feel so irritated, keyed up or fatigued that you have to recover after seeing them?
- Who makes you regularly zone out during conversations because they aren’t involving you?
If the last three questions bring to mind a specific friend, that person may be an energy vampire.
Take stock of your findings.
If you’ve discovered a few energy vampires — not a clinical term, by the way — you’ll need to determine whether or not those friendships are worth keeping, said Alexandra Solomon, a psychologist at the Family Institute at Northwestern University and the author of “Love Every Day.”
Be honest about what you’re getting out of the friendship, Dr. Solomon said. She recommended asking yourself: What first drew me to this person? And what keeps me coming back?
“It may be that you actually love to be drama-adjacent,” Dr. Solomon said. “Or maybe there are hidden benefits to you of this friendship, like access to other people or opportunities.”
In some cases, you may decide that the friendship is not worth continuing. When I spoke with Winfrey and King about their friendship, Winfrey had this advice: You are with the wrong friend “if you are around anybody that makes you feel less than 100 percent yourself, if you’re around anybody that makes you feel like you can’t shine or say whatever you want to say.” (They had too much to say to fit here, so I wrote another column about it.)
Explore ways to make draining friendships healthier.
Shift to an activity. Instead of “feeling trapped and helpless while somebody is going on and on,” propose an activity, such as going to an art museum, Dr. Solomon suggested. You can even invite another person along who can assist you in redirecting the conversation, she said.
Look for the positives. If you have a shared history, then focus on the benefits of it, such as the opportunity to reminisce, Dr. Solomon said. “If you’re in touch with your 19-year-old self when you’re with that friend, then tell yourself that their annoying habit is the price of admission that you pay for access to your own history, your own memories.”
Set boundaries. If the vampire is a co-worker or someone you see every day, try to limit contact, if possible. Maybe tell them you can only talk for 10 minutes, Tawwab said. If they’re a friend who always calls or texts with drama, you do not have to answer, she said; emotionally draining people “do not need an all-access pass to your life.”
Prioritize friends who energize you.
If you have friends on your list who do fill you up, plan some time with them. (And if you’re feeling like you don’t have friends who make you feel good, here are some ways to make new ones.)
The plans don’t need to be elaborate, Tawwab said. If you live nearby, just hang out. If you live in different places, schedule a phone date or a “watch party,” where you see a movie or TV show together.
Most important, make it a habit, Tawwab said. Put reminders on your calendar, as often as you’re able, to spend time with energizing friends — the ones that make you feel good all of the time, rather than some of the time.
Or, as Winfrey and King put it, the friends who are not just willing to ride in the limousine with you, but also willing to take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.
This Friday, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Eastern time, I’ll be answering your questions in real time. What were your favorite parts of the Challenge? What surprised you? What motivated you? You can ask questions in the comments section of our 6-Day Energy Challenge landing page.
Oprah and Gayle lift each other up.
Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King told us why their friendship is energizing, what they love about each other, and about the time that Winfrey showed up to visit King’s new baby sporting a T-shirt that said “Husbands come and go. Best friends stay forever.” (Which, King pointed out, turned out to be “pretty prophetic.”)
Check out the interview: Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King Discuss Their Friendship
Listen to The Culture Desk: Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King’s Iconic Friendship
The Times Well columnist Jancee Dunn has been thinking a lot about friendship lately. So she got in touch with iconic friends, Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King, to learn about the evolution of their friendship and how it’s endured for so long.
Listen 11:00
We asked Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King about friendship
Day 5: The magic of losing yourself in a task
This is Day 5 of the 6-Day Energy Challenge. To start at the beginning, click here.
For the past few months, I have been conducting an experiment: Instead of scrolling through social media after work, which vaguely entertained me but didn’t make me feel very good, I’ve been putting my phone away and doing things that feel more like play.
After a few misses (macramé is not my jam), I tried flower pressing and loved it. I pick flowers that have a single layer of petals, place them between pieces of newspaper or parchment paper, then close them between the pages of a book until they are dry, at which point I glue them onto a board or frame.
The whole process is fun: scouting for the flowers, checking to see if they’ve dried, humming absent-mindedly as I arrange them. I usually feel rested and invigorated after a session with my flowers.
Apparently, I’ve been entering a flow state, which is a period of intense focus that comes from being completely absorbed in an activity. Flow states occur when you’re doing something challenging, but not so difficult that it’s stressful, according to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the positive psychology pioneer who coined the term. When you’re in flow, time and self-consciousness melt away.
Dr. Sue Varma, a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the N.Y.U. Grossman School of Medicine, said this occurs for her when she’s salsa dancing. “It’s not a matter of whether I’m good at it or not,” she said. “In that moment, I’m transported.”
When you enter flow, she explained, “you are being flooded with neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine and dopamine, which make you feel alert, engaged and motivated.”
It can happen within minutes, but there’s no clear time frame for entering flow, said David Melnikoff, an assistant professor of organizational behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. It depends on how complicated the task is and how familiar you are with doing it. No matter how long it takes, there’s evidence that people who experience flow have less work-related burnout and emotional exhaustion.
Find your low-stakes flow state.
Today, we’re in search of flow states that don’t require a lot of effort but have a big payoff: Call them “low-stakes flow states.”
Go flow hunting.
Write down five of the most deeply immersive moments you had last year. Where were you and what were you doing? Do those moments have anything in common? Maybe they all took place outdoors, or involved other people. This list can help you figure out what gets you in the flow.
Your past interests and hobbies can also provide clues. What did you love to do when you were younger? If you could go back to school for a year, what would you study?
Once you’ve identified what lights you up (or has the potential to), block out 15 minutes today to try it, Dr. Varma said. You’ll probably need to “play around and experiment a bit” to figure out which of the things on your list is for you, she said, but that’s part of the process.
Then, at least once a week, try out your new pursuit to stave off burnout and keep your energy levels humming.
Short on ideas (or time)? Here are some suggestions.
If you have five minutes: Learn a few foreign-language phrases on a free app like Duolingo. Or play a mindless game: Dr. Melnikoff likes to toss markers into a recycling bin in his office as if he’s playing basketball. (His record is 13 without a miss.)
If you have 10 minutes: Read a short story or a chapter from your favorite book aloud to another adult (simultaneously reading and speaking requires deep concentration, said Dr. Melnikoff, a key characteristic of flow). Or try a William Morris paint-by-numbers kit.
If you have 20 minutes: Work on an adult Lego set; there’s everything from classic car models to the Taj Mahal. Or draw a picture of your pet.
If you have more than 30 minutes: Give in to your friend who keeps bugging you to play pickleball. Or buy some herb plants, pot them and put them near a sunny window.
My drawing of my tuxedo cat, Tux, is pretty terrible. But it was fun to do, and the world dropped away for a while. He mostly sleeps, so it was a still life.
I’ll be answering your questions in real time today, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Eastern time. What were your favorite parts of the challenge? What surprised you? What motivated you? We’ll be taking questions from here.
Do you know someone who speaks Spanish and would appreciate this challenge? They can follow along here.
Want more flow? Here’s something special from New York Times Games.
Games are the quintessential flow activity. So our colleagues at New York Times Games decided to release a new Tiles palette called Soho to celebrate the 6-Day Energy Challenge. They’ve only done this once before in the game’s five-year history! We are thrilled to share it with you.
Tiles is an absorbing color and pattern-matching game composed of layered shapes. (Here are tips and tricks for becoming top dog at Tiles, from the creator Robert Vinluan.)
Play the game: Tiles
Day 6: How to stay energized all year long
This is Day 6 of the 6-Day Energy Challenge. To start at the beginning, click here.
We have reached the final day of the Energy Challenge!
Hopefully you’ve had an invigorating week. You’ve carved out an oasis moment for daytime rest, done a slightly silly — but effective — energizing workout, noticed how different foods made you feel, identified energy vampires, and made time for a low-stakes flow state. (If you missed a day, don’t worry. You can find previous installments here, and do them at your own pace.)
I have loved doing the daily exercises alongside you. What a gift it is to feel less worn out! Like many of you, I have energy-sapping elements in my life that I can’t control — a teen daughter, a mother who needs care. But it’s been a revelation to discover that there are concrete things I can do to feel better. I’ve never thought to step back and wonder: What actions can I take to raise my energy?
After I added protein to my breakfast, my morning energy rose significantly. Taking a regular rest break in the mid-morning improved my focus and motivation in the afternoon. And I intend to spend a few minutes each day immersing myself in something creative. (My next quest is to learn to knit.)
How else can we keep our energy levels high after the challenge ends? Here are a few more tips to light up the year ahead.
1. Reframe bedtime as the beginning of the next day.
Julie Morgenstern, a productivity consultant and the author of “Time Management from the Inside Out,” said that when we consider sleep to be the last thing we do at night, we’re more likely to push it off — staying up to scroll TikTok or finish our to-do lists. Instead, she suggests thinking of a prompt bedtime as a way to get a head start on the upcoming day. Reframing rest as a new beginning rather than the tail end of the day can inspire better sleep habits, she said.
2. Try monotasking and time-blocking.
Most of us multitask throughout the day, said Cassie Holmes, a professor at U.C.L.A.’s Anderson School of Management and the author of “Happier Hour.” It’s not unusual to be sitting in a Zoom meeting while ordering groceries online and texting.
But this is not only exhausting, it’s also counterproductive, said Dr. Aditi Nerurkar, a physician at Harvard Medical School and author of the forthcoming book “The 5 Resets.” Human brains are wired to do one thing at a time, she added.
Instead, try time-blocking, said Dr. Holmes, in which you schedule uninterrupted time on your calendar for one task.
If you’re most productive in the morning, block that time to do your most important work, she suggested. And grouping similar activities avoids “transition costs,” the mental energy that we use when moving between different kinds of tasks, Dr. Holmes said. (For example, she told me that she does all of her household chores at one time — on Wednesday evening after her kids are in bed.)
3. Set digital boundaries.
We all know instinctively that constantly checking our phones can siphon our energy, so it’s important to put limits on the habit, said Cal Newport, an associate professor of computer science at Georgetown University and author of the upcoming book “Slow Productivity.”
He advised keeping your phone plugged in at a fixed location when you’re home in the evening, such as on a table in the hallway or in the kitchen. Then “if you need to look something up, or call someone, or check in on text messages, you have to go to where your phone is to do so,” he said.
If you want to listen to podcasts or audiobooks while doing chores, he added, use wireless earphones. “In this way, you are still able to get benefits from your phone,” he said, “but it is not with you as a constant companion. You cannot turn to it at the slightest moment of boredom.”
Immediately jumping to answer every text or phone call from a loved one can lead to burnout, added Nedra Tawwab, a psychotherapist and author of “Set Boundaries, Find Peace.” If you can, let the call go to voice mail. Leave the text unread. “You have the right to be unavailable,” she said.
I’d love to hear your tips on how you keep your energy up — share them in the comments. And I’ll be sending you a few check-in emails over the year to help you stay on track.
Here’s to a revitalizing 2024.
Do you know someone who speaks Spanish and would appreciate this challenge? They can follow along here.
Lift your spirits with a playlist from Questlove.
Music and dance are powerful energy boosters. We asked Questlove, the musician, D.J. and member of the Roots, to make a playlist filled with his favorite energizing music. Give it a listen, and check out his notes about why these tracks make him come alive.
Listen: Questlove Made You an Energy Playlist
Coming Soon: Mediterranean Diet Week!
Starting on Jan. 15, we’re launching our Mediterranean Diet series, a week of daily emails filled with nutritional facts and shopping suggestions, along with recipes from our colleagues at NYT Cooking.
As long as you’re subscribed to the Well newsletter, you don’t have to do anything now. You’ll receive the first installment in your inbox. (If you’re not a subscriber, you can sign up below.)
Learn more: Well’s Mediterranean Diet Week
