How To Increase Your Energy For Studying (March 14, 2024)

We all know that feeling of having no energy which comes with no will to do anything at all. In some cases (like my own) people with low energy don’t want to go to sleep because they are “too tired” to go to sleep.

So, if energy is so crucial to us (to some more than others) it makes sense to learn how to raise the energy levels.

This is the last part of the mini-series on how to prepare to study for a test:

How To Plan Your Day For Studying
How To Focus When You Are Studying
How To Stop Procrastinating And Start Studying
How To Increase Your Energy For Studying

If you have some extra time I suggest you read through everything, but if you are here just to learn how to increase your energy, continue from here.

Let’s start with the most effective (and probably most hated) method, exercise. Even though it might seem counterintuitive, exercising actually increases your energy. Think back to when you did some exercise, and when you went to study you could do it for a long time and be focused the whole time.

That is the effect of proper exercise.

How do I exercise properly and is there a wrong way to exercise?

There is a wrong way. If you run for 3 hours can you call that a proper exercise?

Unless you are preparing for a marathon you have no reason to run for that long. By exercise, I mean something light, like a 10-minute to 20-minute walk.

That’s right, even a 10-minute walk can be good enough to boost your energy levels. Even if you have “stuff” to do all day, you can surely find the time for a 10-minute walk, right?

Seeing how much I talk about walking, you could guess (if you already did, good job) what my favorite exercise is. It is my most preferred method of gaining energy, so much so that I barely use any other methods.

Why should I try any other methods if walking works so well?

There are two reasons. The first one is that walking might not be for everyone. To be honest, even now I still don’t know anyone who gets the same energy boost by walking. Sure, there are people who do get a considerable amount, but sometimes I feel so refreshed and full of energy. Just like after a good night of sleep.

The second reason is that there might be a better way of restoring energy than walking. I tried so many things I read online (I lost count of how many by now). Obviously, going out for a walk was mentioned but I never took it seriously. I tried everything but that.

So learn from my mistakes. Whatever you read, give it at least one chance before you discard it.

While going for a walk works best for now, that does not mean it will always be the case. I tried many ways of increasing my energy, so if walking doesn’t work for you here are some tips on what to do.

Short Workout

Just like with walking, there is no need to exert yourself like you are trying to become Mister Olympia. If you are working out to increase your energy, between 10 and 20 minutes is enough.

Whether you make your own workout, or you find something online is not important. Pick something and make sure to do it consistently.

Eat Real Food

The question that instantly comes to mind is:

How do I know what real food even is?

There is a great quote from Michael Pollan to help you differentiate real from fake (or less real if that sounds better to you) food:

“Don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food. “

It’s a perfect quote that summarizes everything you need to know in one sentence.

I can already hear complaints like: “Do you expect me to change my whole diet just so I could have a little bit more energy, and for studying no less?”.

Before you close this window and go to find some “better ways” to be more energized, listen to what I have to say next. If you are in need of energy, no exercise and a bad diet are the first problems you should address.

Although I recommend changing your diet completely, I know how hard that can be for some people. You can start by changing your diet sometime before an important test. Once you get the feeling of having the extra energy by changing your diet, you might not want to go back.

If I have convicted you now, the question to answer is where do you start?

The one most important change you could make to your diet is cutting out the sugar.

There is nothing worse (maybe there is, but for the dramatic effect let’s say there is not) than eating a whole bunch of sugar, and having it all crash down (literally). I can go on and on about what happens because of a sugar crash, but there is only one that is important for us.

Increase in fatigue.

If you still want to eat something sweet, eat fruits. If you are interested in the scientific explanation here you go (for those who aren’t you can skip this, I don’t blame you):

The fruit has fibre in it which slows down the process of breaking sugar. Since all of the sugar comes slowly the sugar crash doesn’t happen (at least that’s how I remember it, if you want a proper explanation Google it, this is outside my area of expertise).

caffeine

Some people (maybe you as well) can’t start their day without a cup of coffee. Unless you plan to study right after drinking that cup of coffee, you are wasting precious time by not drinking coffee right before your study session.

That’s not a problem, I can drink another cup of coffee right before I study, can I not?

Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. The more coffee you drink the higher your resistance to coffee is (caffeine is a drug after all). It might work well at first, but the more coffee you drink the lower the effects are going to be.

I recommend waking up naturally, without coffee, and drinking it only when you need it. Considering that an average American coffee drinker has about three cups of coffee per day (according to Google), this is a lot to ask.

I drink one cup of coffee only when I really need it since it is most effective that way. That means I sometimes go a whole month without any coffee. You can imagine how much more energized I feel after that one cup of coffee.

Even without coffee, there are other ways to get caffeine. Try experimenting with green tea (my recommendation), but stay clear of sugary drinks (you already know too much sugar is bad for you).

Meditation

Many people talk about how meditation changed their lives, so despite not using it, I will mention it here. I am not sure if meditation doesn’t work for me or if I am doing something wrong, but I never get the results others get when meditating. I suppose that I have too much energy, so sitting still and doing nothing just isn’t for me (maybe that’s why I like walking so much).

If you want to try it for yourself, read how to on the internet. I don’t even need to check to tell you that there are meditation apps (as I always say, there is an app for everything these days), so give those a try if you don’t know where to start.

Social activities

This one is a no-brainer. Interacting with others can give you a big boost of energy. Not much else to say there.

Sleep

Frankly speaking, you don’t need me to tell you how important sleep is. You know how bad it feels to sleep less than you should. On the other hand, you also know how good it feels to wake up refreshed after a good night of sleep.

I could probably write a 20000-word article just on sleep, but we don’t have time for that here (maybe some other time in the future, who knows). The most important thing for us is to increase our energy.

more sleep = more energy, isn’t that right?

If you think like this, stop. I already know someone is going to sleep 12 hours a day and say that I suggested it. This way of thinking is flawed. First of all, more sleep doesn’t equal more energy. Second, the quality of your sleep matters more than the time you spend sleeping.

In the book Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker (recommended read), you can find twelve tips for healthy sleep:

Stick to a sleep schedule (if you do one thing, do this one, it is the most important)
Exercise is great, but not too late in the day. Try to exercise at least thirty minutes on most days but not later than two to three hours before your bedtime
Avoid caffeine and nicotine
Avoid alcoholic drinks before bed
Avoid large meals and beverages late at night
If possible, avoid medicines that delay or disrupt your sleep
Don’t take naps after 3 p.m.
Relax before bed
Take a hot bath before bed
Dark bedroom, cool bedroom, gadget-free bedroom
Have the right sunlight exposure. Daylight is key to regulating daily sleep patterns. Try to get outside in natural sunlight for at least thirty minutes each day. If possible, wake up with the sun or use very bright lights in the morning
Don’t lie in bed awake

Nap

Since sleeping is so important for your energy levels, it makes sense that napping helps too. Although you just read about how not to take naps after 3 p.m., you don’t have to religiously stick to that.

Find what works for you.

After some testing, I found that if I finish napping before 5 p.m. I can still get a good night’s sleep. Besides the time of your nap, you have to decide the length of your nap too. Somewhere in the range of 10 minutes to 25 minutes is great. Any more than 25 minutes and you might as well consider it sleeping rather than napping.

If you want to increase the effects of your naps, drink some caffeine before you start napping. It takes some time for caffeine to get absorbed, so if you time it well you will get extra energy from both the nap and the caffeine.

* * * * *

I know this was a lot to go through, but hopefully, you found something useful here. Let’s answer one last question before finishing, shall we?

What to do when I feel like I have too much/little energy?

I don’t know how many of you know this (I don’t know why you would in the first place) but I believe consistency is the best way to achieve anything. If I said I would do some amount of hours of studying I do it (most of the time anyway, I am human like all of you😃).

But I can understand if someone is feeling like today is not the day and skips the whole day. On the other hand, if you feel like you have too much energy, you can study for the whole day if you want. No one is stopping you (except if you get distracted by something).

Now that you have all of those tools at your disposal, you have a better chance of getting that piece of chocolate. I still think you are better off buying another one, but if you want to prove you are better, there is nothing wrong with that (ah, the good old sibling rivalry).

Remember:

The best way to increase your energy is to do a light exercise.

Your diet has a big effect on your energy levels, so eat real food when you need energy.

Sleeping is the most important factor when it comes to your energy, so increase your sleep quality to boost your energy.

Try all of the methods mentioned here and find what works best for you, everyone has their preferences.