#nomorecaffeine

Everyone would like to feel more energetic during the day.  Your body naturally cycles between higher and lower energy states. The problems occur when you want to be active when your body wants to relax. Or when you try to relax when your body wants to be active. Not harnessing your body's rhythms can even render your high energy moments kind of lackluster, leaving you low energy all the time!

Here are a few tips to help you feel like the energizer bunny. Some of them might sound obvious, but be honest with yourself. Are you really doing what you need to be doing?

1) Stay on a regular sleep schedule.  Bright lights late at night can throw off your circadian rhythm make it even harder to fall asleep - turn off all electronics and lights 1-2 hours before bed to help you fall asleep. Also, you can’t stay up late during the weekend and suddenly wake up Monday morning feeling refreshed.  If you do enjoy later nights on Friday and Saturday vow to get to bed early on Sunday to wake up rested. Sundays should be sacred. Use them to detox, reset and prepare for the week ahead.

2) Avoid the sugar and caffeine roller coaster.  Eat some protein and foods with a bit of fat in the morning.  The brain needs protein and the body does not store it.  You don’t have to eat very much - a glass of low fat milk, a piece of cheese, or a  handful of nuts will get you going instead of pure carbohydrates like a plain bagel or donut.  

3) Take a 5 -10 minute power nap around lunch.  Even if you just close your eyes and let your mind drift you will be refreshed for the afternoon.  This is also effective anytime you feel yourself not concentrating, reading the same material over and over.  Give in to the urge and completely relax for a few moments.

4) Drink more water and liquids.  I know, everyone says to drink more fluids.  But most of us are in a constant state of dehydration from filling up on coffee, tea, alcohol and sodas with caffeine.  This is very stressful to the kidneys and can cause irritation to the bladder.  Keep a sports bottle filled with your favourite flavored water or just plain and keep it with you at all times.  Set a goal - empty by lunch, refill, empty again by the time work is over. Carry plenty of water in the car too for you and your family.

5) Exercise regularly.  This is easier said than done with a busy schedule.  A poor conditioning level causes you to be short-of-breath and your heart to race when just doing simple things like climbing a flight of steps or doing household chores.  Park farther away when shopping and walk.  Dust off that exercise machine or get an exercise tape to play when weather is bad. Set an example for the rest of your family and maybe they will join in too!

6) A joke a day keeps the doctor away.  Seriously, laughter has many beneficial effects on the body.  The brain chemicals for experiencing pleasure, happiness, and peace increase with good, hearty laughs.  Live alone?  Get a funny movie or watch a light-hearted comedy on tv.  Nothing sarcastic or put-down, however.

7) Avoid confrontations and situations with negative people.  You know who they are.  They are not going to change but they will bring you and your mood down.  The complainers, gossipers, and generally unhappy souls we all have to deal with on a day-to-day basis drain our energy if we allow them. Be polite but avoid arguing or getting hooked into listening to their constant problems.

I did a brief contract with an instructional designer doing functionality and editing on her work. She's agreed to be a mentor for me to help me get into the field. Here's something I said after she said I have my pulse on the ID field.

"I don't think I have my fingers on the pulse as of it quite yet. I'm getting close though. The field is ripe for some major innovation, I just need to figure out where, what, how, and what the necessary resources to innovate it are. That's not to say there aren't really cool things happening, I just feel that it's a field that is rapidly evolving, and I would like to help guide this evolution along for the sake of future learners. The online education revolution is huge on so many levels, ranging from neurological to sociopolitical, and it is the place of instructional designers to discover innovative learning tools to teach the people, freeing them from the constraints of their governments and the power of mass media. I dream of a future where instead of teaching cursive, students learn typing, and instead of APA formatting, correct HTML formatting is graded. This revolution is already occurring, but it is in its infant stages, and it will be the instructional designers who use their innovative expertise to guide it and really start that fire. However, at this point I am entirely reliant on learning the systems and tools of instructional design from the experts- that means you. :) The future depends entirely on the creation of great minds. Through easy to access learning that is free and effective, coupled with the decentralized nature of the internet and all the billions of minds inbetween that can act as experts and mentors, we have the tools right now to turn anyone into a scientist, business owner, or political activist. Right now that potential is being wasted largely on leisure, but websites like the KhanAcademy and TED are proof that there is an audience that wants to become smarter. It must fall upon effective instructional designers to discover ways to make DIY learning engaging. A population capable of self education can stop immoral wars, track and weed out corruption, pass college entrance exams, overcome social barriers, and spread accurate scientific and technical knowledge freely. Again, the ball is in our court to make this all a reality, so you understand my enthusiasm to have you as a mentor."