A Cheat Sheet Complete With 8 Evidence-Backed Tips For Better Energy

Energy crashes rarely come out of nowhere. More often, they're the sum of small daily choices: what time you got up, whether you had protein at breakfast, or how much caffeine you had after lunch.

Before you reach for coffee, reach for water.

Your body loses water overnight through breathing and sweat, so you're waking up at least a little dehydrated every day, and research shows that losing just 2%1 of your body's water weight is enough to affect mood, raise fatigue, and lower alertness. Some research also links mild dehydration to poorer cognitive performance2, though the research on cognition is more mixed than the research on mood and fatigue.

Getting sunlight in your eyes soon after waking helps regulate your circadian rhythm, which is your body's 24-hour internal clock.

Morning sunlight suppresses melatonin, allowing the body to naturally wake and fall asleep earlier3. A 70-day diary study of 103 adults4 found that morning sunlight predicted better sleep the following night.

What you eat in the morning matters almost as much as the time you wake up.

One study found that children who ate more protein at breakfast5, showed a stronger shift toward being a "morning person," with earlier bedtimes and wake times, especially when combined with morning sunlight. Separate research on adults found that higher-protein breakfasts6, as part of a higher-protein diet overall, helped stabilize blood sugar, which can reduce sleepiness throughout the day.

If you're not used to eating a hearty breakfast, or feel stuck in a rut of store-bought muffins with your coffee, check out some of our favorite protein-packed options here.

A short walk does more than clear your head. Exercise increases blood flow throughout your body, which boosts how much oxygen reaches your brain and muscles.

You don't need an intense workout to get this benefit. Even a brisk walk around the block has been shown to help maintain attention, and regular movement can increase levels of BDNF, a brain-boosting protein that helps with executive function.

That afternoon coffee might feel harmless, but it can chip away at your sleep, which can in turn mess with your energy levels.

A randomized trial7 found that a 400-milligram dose of caffeine consumed just four hours before bedtime reduced perceived sleep quality by over 34%. A broader review8 of caffeine research confirmed that caffeine typically extends the time it takes to fall asleep, shortens total sleep time, and reduces how efficiently you sleep, with the effects depending on both dose and timing.

Going to bed and waking up at roughly the same time, even on weekends, isn't just about discipline. A systematic review9 found that earlier, more regular sleep timing is favorably associated with better health outcomes overall.

When your sleep schedule is inconsistent, your circadian rhythm is thrown off, which can leave your body feeling tired even if you technically got enough hours. Waking up at the same time daily helps your body anticipate when it's time to be alert.

Sleep is when your body does its repair work, and skimping on it adds up fast. A joint consensus statement from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society confirms that regularly sleeping less than seven hours a night is linked to worse health outcomes and a greater risk of accidents.

If you're consistently falling short of seven hours, that's often the first place to look before troubleshooting anything else on this list.

Even with a thoughtful diet, nutritional gaps can sneak in and drain your energy over time.

Research on multivitamin and mineral supplements shows they can help fill in relatively small but important nutritional gaps, which may help prevent issues like anemia, and possibly boost some aspects of cognitive performance.

If you are struggling to feel energized throughout the day, try picking one or two of these habits that feels most realistic for you and implementing them throughout your week. Whether that's drinking a glass of water before your coffee or setting a caffeine cutoff, you may start to notice differences. You can habit stack from there, with small, consistent choices to add up to steadier energy over time.