On Purpose with Jay Shetty - 7 Ways to Be Productive Even When You're Tired

Episode Date: March 25, 2022

Do you want to meditate daily with me? Go to go.calm.com/onpurpose to get 40% off a Calm Premium Membership. Experience the Daily Jay. Only on CalmToo tired to work. Too tired to move around. Too tired to just do anything. When you’re too exhausted you lack the energy to finish what you need to do, you lose the chance to accomplish important tasks and it only leads to more stress and frustration. It becomes a stumbling block, that when left alone and unaddressed, can become problematic and may affect your routines.In this episode of On Purpose, Jay Shetty shares with us the best practices that can help us regain our strength and replenish our energy to remain productive.Want to be a Jay Shetty Certified Life Coach? Get the Digital Guide and Workbook from Jay Shetty https://jayshettypurpose.com/fb-getting-started-as-a-life-coach-podcast/ Key Takeaways:00:00 Intro01:03 Take a break when you feel too tired05:26 Tip #1: Genuinely clear about how much energy you need14:20 Tip #2: Try getting a shower to freshen up15:57 Tip #3: Listen to music17:16 Tip #4: Exercise19:03 Tip #5: Use standing desk20:25 Tip #6: Practice power naps22:15 Five things to do in five minutes between meetings23:30 Tip #7: Do it then reward yourselfLike this show? Please leave us a review here - even one sentence helps! Post a screenshot of you listening on Instagram & tag us so we can thank you personally!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What do a flirtatious gambling double agent in World War II? An opera singer who burned down an honorary to kidnap her lover, and a pirate queen who walked free with all of her spoils, haven't comment. They're all real women who were left out of your history books. You can hear these stories and more on the Womanica podcast. Check it out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. I'm Jay Shetty and on my podcast on purpose, I've had the honor to sit down with some of the most incredible hearts and minds on the planet. Oprah, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Hart,

Lewis Hamilton, and many, many more. On this podcast, you get to hear the raw, real-life stories behind their journeys, and the tools they used, the books they read, and the people that made a difference in their lives so that they can make a difference in hours. Listen to on purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Join the journey soon. What if you could tell the whole truth about your life, including all those tender invisible things we don't usually talk about?

I'm Megan Devine. Host of the podcast, it's okay that you're not okay. Look, everyone's at least a little bit not okay these days, and all those things we don't usually talk about, maybe we should. This season, I'm joined by Stellar, Gas like Abormatte, Rachel Cargol, and so many more. It's okay that you're not okay. New episodes each and every Monday, available on the iHeartRadio app,

or wherever you listen to podcasts. Sometimes you can be productive, but it doesn't mean that you're effective. Productive means you get a lot of things done. Effective means you get big, important things done. And I find that when I'm exhausted and I'm tired, I struggle to do those effective things even if I'm able to do a lot of things and check them off. Hey everyone, welcome back to on purpose the number one health podcast in the world thanks to each and every one of you that come back every week to listen, learn and grow.

Now I'm going to be honest with you. It's 9.15pm and I have been working around 14 to 15 hours a day this past week. I am tired. I am really, really tired. And today's episode is inspired by that. The truth is, if you've been overworking, get some sleep. If you're on the verge of burnout, please, please, please, speak to a doctor, speak to a medical professional, take a break.

The reason I'm recording this episode and podcast is because I often think that we sometimes get into these situations where we've overworked a little bit, we need to push through that last little step, but I would say that if you can get sleep right now, if you can get rest right now, please, please take it. This is for those of you who know that you just need to push a little bit further and I'm going to give you some advice that will help you push through, but I still want you to get some sleep. Now, why am I tired? I flew to Egypt for 24 hours just so you know there is a connecting flight from LA to Egypt. It takes in total door to door, probably around 26 hours. I was in Egypt for exactly 24 hours,

and then I came back. I went for work. I came back, went to a work dinner, the moment I came back, Showered, went to that dinner, came back, woke up in the next morning, and started a full work week. And then, because it's the week before the Oscars,

I had a lot of events to attend in the evening, worked in his, I had client meetings, lots of different things going on. And in the daytime, I was recording podcasts, interviewing amazing guests. It's been a fulfilling week. It's been an amazing week. I feel so grateful that I've had this week,

but the reality is also to accept that I'm tired. Now I know you can relate to this. I know so many of you listening right now are feeling like, Jay, I am tired too. I am exhausted too. Maybe you've had too much on of the weekends. Maybe your family was just in town. Maybe you've been going through some personal stuff.

Whatever it is, I'm so glad you chose to be here. And I'm so happy that we get to try and talk about this together so that I can share some insights that help keep me going when this is going on in my life. So studies show that around 50% of people report feeling tired between three and seven days a week. The results also reveal a gender gap. Women were sleepy on an average of 3.4 days a week and men were tired 2.7 days on average. Now only 16% of respondents reported not feeling sleepy at all during a typical week.

respondents reported not feeling sleepy at all during a typical week. Sleepiness cited by 58% of all respondents, most commonly affected respondents' mood, followed by the willingness to go out in the evening, ability to focus, and exercise and productivity. Now, the most common coping strategy studies say is to shake it off and keep going 62% of respondents said that, followed by getting fresh air, which was 35%, drinking coffee was 33% you know who you are. And those are not the strategies I'm going to be sharing in today's episode. Why?

Because I believe that there are a different set of habits that I practice, that I look upon, that I try and embody when I am in this position. Now, I don't allow myself, I would like to say, to get into this position very often, I'll make sure that I rest the weekends and I'll recoup, I make sure that I get some extra early sleep the night before. So this is a rare occurrence for me, but nevertheless, I have a plan for when this happens. I've been working every weekend for the past month, and so I've been a little out of sync with my schedule, and therefore I have to have a plan. Now, the reasons that people say they are struggling with their energy is long work hours, 53%. Another thing, obviously during the lockdown, we're staying indoors, too much

screen time is tiring for people, and a lack of regular routine. These were the leading causes for prolonged feelings of exhaustion. So today, I I'm gonna share with you the habits and practices I use to help me when I need to get work done, even when I'm tired or exhausted. The first thing that I do is that I'm genuinely clear about how much energy this is truly going to require. I ask myself how much energy is this truly going to require? Because when I'm tired, often we're not able to properly associate time and space.

How many of you when you're tired feel you make bad decisions? Right, when we feel fatigue, when we feel exhausted, and we make poor decisions, how do we make better decisions? By actually trying to get accurate, by thinking about how much energy this task that we need to accomplish is genuinely going to require. And we have to base on how much energy it's taken in the past, if we've done the task

before. And when we're honest about the energy, we can then check in with ourselves and ask ourselves, can I rise to that energy level? Can I bring it to that energy level? And the question even more succinctly is what is the minimum energy required to do this? Often when we're tired, we're thinking this thing's gonna take maximum energy, but it's not. What is the minimum energy that this thing

is going to require from us to complete? Because can we rise to that minimum energy is really the question that you have to ask. Now, what do you do with that? Chances are you're too tired, so you're thinking, oh, well, you know, I'm probably not gonna give the right answer, and I'm probably not going to make the right decision.

One of my favorite things is this time is to go and grab a couple of dates. What I love about grabbing a couple of dates is that dates are high in natural sugars. So if you need a quick burst of energy, instead of going for a second cup of coffee, go for a handful of dates. And if you don't like them plain,

you can actually make some energy balls or put them into oatmeal bars. The thing about dates is that they have an excellent nutrition professors' health line. Since they're dried, their calorie content is higher than most fresh fruit. The calorie content of dates is similar to that of other dried fruits such as raisins and figs. And they're high in fiber, with almost 7 grams of fiber in a 3.5 ounce serving, including

dates in your diet, is a great way to increase your fiber intake. So for me, grabbing those dates before I make a decision to assess the amount of energy I have is a fantastic way to know how I'm going to feel when I take on this next task that I have in front of me. The reason why this is fascinating is that they found this research in a study of judges in a courtroom. They found that judges gave more lenient sentences after lunch than they did just before lunch. When judges gave sentences just before lunch,

those people received the harshest sentences because judges were likely hungry, thirsty, and waiting to eat. They had lost their energy. They were feeling a sense of fatigue, so they made poorer decisions. Now, when they were able to go and get lunch and then when they came back, now that they were feeling fresh and alert, the sentences changed. Now, that's obviously worrying to hear in a courtroom, but the same thing applies to us. If we're doing decision-based activities, we need to make sure we've eaten, we need to make sure we have some energy. If we're trying to do discipline-based activities, we need to be careful about knowing how much energy we need,

so that we don't overexert. Now, another thing I'm going to say is how do you get work done when you're tired or exhausted is that you perform easier or harder tasks. Now, this is something I want you to think about, reflect on and understand about yourself. Some of us get energy from doing harder tasks first and some of us get energy from doing easier tasks first. We all feel different ways of momentum and

you only know this by observing yourself. I used someone who feels like, yes, I got the first task of the day done, it was easy, it was simple, I'm done, now I feel confident to move on or you say to yourself, you know what, if I accomplish this, I can do anything. Right, so you're going to start with the hardest. Neither is right or wrong. There used to be a time when I thought either or, but I've started to realize that everyone's mind works so differently, that it's so important for us to be aware.

So why find that I like to start my day doing something difficult? It may be a cold shower, it may be a cold plunge, something that makes me feel like I can accomplish the rest of the day. I did say that you could start with easy or harder first because we are all different, but studies do show that doing the easy thing first can be less productive. The idea is reinforced by behavioral research that shows that starting with easier tasks

first is not helpful overall. Studies say that the data shows this is the case even though it can initially feel good to take the path of least resistance in an attempt to get the ball rolling. The human brain is wired to feel positive about short-term rewards so we're more inclined to take actions that result in gaining those short-term rewards and hardest tasks require you to be more patient, to be more resilient. The stress of putting off a difficult task negatively affects productivity towards all other tasks performed. So because you keep putting off that hard task and you keep trying to get these quick wins, these quick dopamine hits,

you can often set yourself up for just stress and pressure of putting something off again and again and again. The other thing we have to realize is that studies showed that after a 50 hour work week, scientists have found that the work output of an employee workforce drops off a cliff. Once the number of hours passes 55 hours,

work output is almost nil due to exhaustion. So we really have to take a look at our whole week and ask ourselves, are we really pushing too far too often? The study's going to say that the impact of this decline in being effective is that people who work 70 hours a week are achieving next to nothing in the extra 15 hours they choose to work. Now, I can relate and I would debate that also.

I feel like I can be effective and productive. Actually, let me explain that. Sometimes you can be productive, but it doesn't mean that you're effective. Productive means you get a lot of things done. Effective means you get big, important things done. And I find that when I'm exhausted and I'm tired, I struggle to do those effective things,

even if I'm able to do a lot of things and check them off. We've been getting so many amazing reviews for the Daily J. My new daily guided meditation series on the Karmap. We've been getting so many amazing reviews for the Daily J, my new Daily Guided Meditation series on the Karmap. You might have heard a couple of snippets on the podcast for a few weeks, so in case you haven't had the chance to check it out, I just wanted to share this review from Caitlyn, an elementary school teacher from New Jersey. He's what she had to say.

I have over 9 years of experience in the American public school education system, including teaching throughout the pandemic. Over the past two years, I've seen extreme cases of anxiety in my students like never before. Many of these children have never experienced these feelings before and most are not even sure of what they are feeling.

My school district has spent a great deal of time focusing on social emotional learning, SEL, through this school year. We try to teach coping skills and focus on teaching kids how to deal with their feelings and become the best version of themselves. As someone who has also been experiencing the many anxieties of the world today, I have recently downloaded the Karmap, thanks to my mom. My mom and I are big fans of yours, and once she heard that you will have seven minutes of daily J, each day, she encouraged me in doing this. Your meaningful ideas and meditation have quickly

become part of my daily routine, so much that I've begun incorporating some of them into my SEL morning meetings with my third graders. If you've ever wanted to meditate with me join me on the calm app for the daily J, a daily guided meditation where I'll help you find calm in the chaos, plant beautiful intentions for a happy, abundant life and simple steps for positive actions to get you closer to the life of your dreams. Meditate with me by going to calm.com forward slash J, to get 40% off a calm premium membership that's only $42 for the whole year for a daily guided meditation. Experience the daily J only on Kong.

Hi, I'm David Eagleman. I have a new podcast called Inner Cosmos on I Heart. I'm a neuroscientist and an author at Stanford University and I've spent my career exploring the three-pound universe in our heads. On my new podcast, I'm going to explore the relationship between our brains and our experiences by tackling unusual questions so we can better understand our lives and our realities. Like, does time really run in slow motion when you're in a car accident? Or can we create new senses for

humans? Or, what does dreaming have to do with the rotation of the planet? So join me weekly to uncover how your brain steers your behavior, your perception, and your reality. Listen to Intercosmos with David Eagleman on the iHeartRadio app Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jay Shetty and on my podcast on purpose, I've had the honor to sit down with some of the most incredible hearts and minds on the planet. Opro, everything that has happened to you can also be a strength builder for you if you allow it. Kobe Bryant. The results don't really matter.

It's the figuring out that matters. Kevin Haw. It's not about us as a generation at this point. It's about us trying our best to create change. Luminous Hamilton. That's for me being taken that moment for yourself each day, being kind to yourself, because I think for a long time I wasn't kind to myself.

And many, many more. If you're attached to knowing, you don't have a capacity to learn. On this podcast, you get to hear the raw real-life stories behind their journeys and the tools they used, the books they read, and the people that made a difference in their lives so that they can make a difference in hours. Listen to on-purpose with Jay Shetty on the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Join the journey soon.

Hey, it's Debbie Brown. And my podcast, Deeply Well, is a soft place to land on your wellness journey. I hold conscious conversations with leaders and radical healers and wellness and mental health around topics that are meant to expand and support you on your journey. From guided meditations to deep conversations with some of the world's most gifted experts in self-care,

trauma, psychology, spirituality, astrology, and even intimacy. Here is where you'll pick up the tools to live as your highest self. Make better choices. heal, and have more joy. My work is rooted in advanced meditation, metaphysics, spiritual psychology, energy healing, and trauma-informed practices. I believe that the more we heal and grow within ourselves, the more we are able to bring our creativity to life. And live our purpose, which leads to community impact and higher consciousness for all beings. Deeply well with Debbie Brown is your soft place to land, to work on yourself without judgment, to heal, to learn, to grow, to become who you deserve to be.

Deeply well is available now on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Big love. Namaste. Now, one of my other habits that I love to do when I'm trying to get worked on when I'm feeling tired is get a shower. I remember turning up to an event and I'd been asked to go on stage at 9.30 p.m. That is my bedtime.

Can you imagine I get to an event? There's thousands of people in the audience. I'm asked to go on stage in 9.30 pm, and in my head I'm thinking, it's gonna be my bedtime. How do I wake up? And sometimes I'm jet lag 2, the other way where I'm really tired at that time.

One of my favorite tips for this time is to take a shower. I know it sounds obvious, but a cold shower as well. Taking a shower can refresh you it sounds obvious, but a cold shower as well, taking a shower can refresh you in the best way. So the studies say that aside from boosting your mood, research suggests that bathing can reduce inflammation, help you sleep better, suit muscle problems, and help with depression. There's a reason that a cold shower wakes you up in the morning studies say as the lower temperature increases oxygen intake and Heart rate to release blood through the body

So taking a shower can be a huge win Towards working even when you're feeling tired. Now, there's also a habit element here You used to taking a shower at the start of the day and now you're able to perform. When you take a shower, it's almost like a mental note or a mental rewiring to say, let's start again. Let's start the day again. This has been a huge tip and trick for me that has helped me when I'm really, really, truly feeling exhausted. Now, the next tip that I want to share with you is the music that you listen to. I remember learning about something called the Mozart effect,

which is listen to classical music. And it's incredible. You'd think this would put you to sleep, but actually it can help you be more productive because it can help you become more focused. And one of the biggest reasons is because classical music doesn't have lyrics, which means you can't sing along, you can't get distracted, you can actually just move

at the pace of the music. Nature sounds again have been sewn to remove distraction when you listen to nature sounds. You still feel like you're attentive, but you still feel like you can focus. Often we don't realize that you can build your own distraction. Where music is like building your own distraction. Your mind has enough to be entertained by,

but you actually are able to focus. Now some recess suggests that it's not the type of music that it's important, but it's actually music between 50 and 80 beats per minute. Dr. Emma Gray, a cognitive behavioral therapist, worked with Spotify to reset the benefits of certain types of music. She found that listening to music set in the 50 to 80 beat range puts the brain into an alpha state.

Now there's an interesting one that's next and it's exercise. I missed the first day of the week this week for exercise because I was too tired. Really do I allow myself to do that and I was so happy when I got back to it. Now, how did you make that decision, everyone's thinking, Jay, how did you decide to either go to the gym or not go to the gym. And here's how I'm going to tell you I made the decision. If I'm feeling unwell when I'm exhausted or tired, I will choose to do low intensity workouts. I'll choose to do workouts that are not stressful on my nervous system.

If I'm just feeling lazy, then I'll force myself to go and continue on. Now, how do you know if you're feeling tired, exhausted, or lazy? How do you truly know that? I've been trying to ask myself this question. I know that I'm lazy when I'm thinking about how I feel right now, not how I'm going to feel after I go to the gym. And I'd say more often than not, I know I'm going to feel great after the gym. Now the difference between tiredness and exhaustion is that you're feeling in your body not just your mind. So how is your body feeling not as how is your mind and head feeling? Are your muscles aching? Is your body feeling heavy or tense. Now that is mean you shouldn't go to the gym.

I'm just saying that when you're on that verge, you're being truly exhausted. It is important to give yourself good sleep. But the key to that is sleeping earlier, right? The human growth hormone also known as HGH is more active in the early hours of sleep and ideally before midnight. So the earlier you can get to sleep

tonight, the better you're going to feel. The next tip is something that's become trendy recently, which is using standing desks, but the idea to stand. And John Paulson talks about a 2011 study by the CDC that noted a 54% decrease in muscleoscal-scalatoral pain among workers who alternated from sitting to standing throughout the day. And John Paulson, all to have talked about another study in 2014 by the University of Cincinnati that reported significant decreases in shoulder and back pain when participants varied their postures. He went on to say that when we sit for too long, everything in

our bodies slows down. John Paulson said it's harder to clear fats from blood to process insulin to keep muscles active and spines flexible, leading to soreness and possible organ damage. He went on to say that even our mental functions slow because we're not moving enough to pump much blood to the brain. So even while I'm doing this podcast right now, I'm stretching upwards. I'm raising my hands above my head and reprising my hands behind me. I'm rolling my shoulders.

The idea of moving when we're tired is counterintuitive, but it can be so powerful to grasp the energy, to increase more energy in the body when you are feeling tired. The next tip is something I'm going to share that I'm experimenting with right now. It's something I've never done in my life but I'm starting to realize that it may be something to play around with. It's the idea of napping. So studies show that naps lasting 10 to 20 minutes are considered the ideal length.

They're sometimes referred to as power naps because they provide recovery benefits without leaving the NAPA feeling sleepy afterward. Now, some of the benefits of NAPS studies show include reducing sleepiness, improving learning, aiding memory formation, and regulating emotions. Again, that decision-making ability is improved through napping. So, the Sleep Foundation shared some really great tips on how to get an ideal nap. The first is to set an alarm.

Studies show that the best nap length for most people is about 10 to 20 minutes. This provides restorative sleep without drowsiness after waking up. The other thing is to nap early sleep foundation says, napping late in the day can affect your ability to fall asleep at bedtime, try napping around halfway point between the time you wake up and the time you plan to go to bed. Usually you might think, well, that's a waste of time like, oh my gosh, if I fall asleep and

then what if I don't wake up again, that's going to be hard, right? But here's the thing, you've got to remind yourself that it's not just about being awake. It's not just about getting it done. It's again going back to the first thing I said, what energy do you need to make this decision or complete this task? If it is something that requires your best energy that requires your focused approach, you're going to be required to take that rest. Do not ignore this advice because it's so easy to think, well, I just need to get this done, Jay. I'm so busy, I just need to make this happen.

Sometimes taking a break and a pause can be the best thing you can do. One of my favorite things is to create a five minute gap between each of my meetings. In that 5 minutes, if my meeting finishes at 10.30, the next one starts at 10.35. If my meeting finishes at 11, the next one starts at 11.05. Or make all your meetings 55 minutes. I don't know who invented this idea that your meetings had to be an hour. They could be 30 minutes. They could be 17. They could be 25. They could be 45. But we've become these people who set 30 minutes, they could be 17, they could be 25, they could be 45, but we've

become these people who set 30 minutes or 60 minute meetings, make them 55 minutes, make them 25 minutes, and in that five minutes do these five things. Stand up, walk, hydrate, look out into the distance, and stretch. Those are the five things you do in five minutes. Notice how pulling out your phone was not one of them. Stand up, walk about, hydrate, look at the distance and stretch. These are five habits that you need to do in the five minutes between meetings, so you don't carry the baggage of the last meeting

into the next meeting. That's one of the most unhealthy things that removes our productivity that makes us even more tired because it just keeps challenging our ability to think straight. And I'm going to share one final thing that I recommend. We all do when we're feeling exhausted and tired, but we need to get some work done is do it and then reward yourself. Get it done. Do it and then reward yourself with an early night's sleep. Reward yourself with a relaxing weekend. Plan out the reward. Not only does that give you excitement that you have something planned for after getting this work done, it will actually give you excitement that you have something planned for after getting this work done, it will actually give you the relaxation you need.

Thank you so much for listening to today's episode. Make sure you pass it on to someone who needs it and come back next week for another episode of on purpose. Thank you everyone. Getting better with money is a great goal for 2023. But how are you going to make it happen? Ordering a book that lingers on your nightstand isn't going to do the trick. Instead, check out our podcast How to Money. That's right, we're two best buds offering all the helpful personal finance information

you need without putting you to sleep. We offer guidance three times a week and we talk about debt pay off, saving more, intelligent investing, and increasing your earnings. Millions of listeners have trusted us to help them make progress with their financial goals. You can listen to how to money on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Debbie Brown, host of the Deeply Well Podcast, where we hold conscious conversations

with leaders and radical healers and wellness around topics that are meant to expand and support you on your wellbeing journey. Deeply well is your soft place to land, to work on yourself without judgment, to heal, to learn, to grow, to become who you deserve to be. Deeply well with Debbie Brown is available now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Namaste. The therapy for Black Girls podcast is your space to explore mental health,

personal development, and all of the small decisions we can make to become the best possible versions of ourselves. I'm your host, Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, and all of the small decisions we can make to become the best possible versions of ourselves. I'm your host, Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia, and I can't wait for you to join the conversation every Wednesday.

Listen to the therapy for Black Girls podcast on the iHort Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Take good care. or wherever you get your podcast. Take good care.