Our energy levels naturally fluctuate throughout the day - you know this already. I’ve been about thinking this in relation to coffee consumption and life fulfillment and here are some of my thoughts:
When we wake up we’re still quite sleepy because sleep hormone melatonin is circulating in our system. Exposure to bright light helps this reduce and you start to feel perky. Hence waking up in winter is a struggle.
While this is happening, we tend to reach for the coffee - but is this really necessary? Could extra exposure to light in the mornings cut it? By late morning we're usually pretty perky (something that coffee drinkers often attribute to the coffee) then it descends in the afternoon before it picks up again in the early evening and descends before bed.
Sometimes it’s ok to be tired. You somehow manage to get through the day, even if it's unpleasant.
Sometimes the thought of being tired can make us anxious if we have an important task/day that requires us to be alert. But often, when you get into the groove, your energy picks up.
We each have our own rhythm and I think it’s most obvious in babies and young children who nap once or twice during the day - if you have (had) kids, have you noticed that they’re a bit groggy when they first wake up, then perk right up for a while, before their energy fades and it’s nap time? We let them respect these natural rhythms but ignore the same in ourselves as adults... except perhaps on the weekend when we might have a nap in the afternoon. What if we adults rested when we need to? Would the consequences really be so bad?
I’m not saying we should all be napping daily - there is evidence to show this isn’t a good idea - but I’m just saying if we can respect our natural rhythms, and understand that it’s normal to have energy fluctuations throughout the day, REST during low energy moments, then perhaps this can help us make healthy choices about what we consume and what we expect of ourselves in times of low energy, and if we really need [as much] caffeine.
Furthermore, just gonna drop this here... when we are truly inspired by what we’re doing, we are energised by it and don’t need external stimuli to help us through...
A little idealistic and simplistic perhaps, but worth a thought. An since most of us are working from home these days, why not?!
Whatcha reckon?