In this interview, health‑wellness expert Reena Vokoun shares research‑backed, caffeine‑free strategies to increase daily energy. She begins by emphasizing the importance of regular short breaks—about 10 minutes every 90 minutes—to restore focus and creativity, citing a study that 74% of Americans would earn more and 71% would be happier with more energy. Next, she advises stabilizing blood sugar by eating nutrient‑dense, balanced meals every 3–4 hours, preventing the mid‑afternoon crash that impairs cognition and performance. She then discusses exercise timing, recommending morning workouts to boost endorphins and heart rate, while acknowledging that any movement during the day (lunch or evening) also helps. Sleep is highlighted as a cornerstone: aim for 7–9 hours of quality sleep with sufficient REM and deep stages, and use 30–45 minute power naps on weekends to recharge without disrupting nighttime sleep. Finally, Vokoun stresses a mindset shift from “I’m tired” to an abundance‑energy perspective, coupling gratitude and positivity with the practical habits she outlined. The segment ends with sponsor acknowledgments and a call for listeners to appear on the show.
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There are simple steps that you can take to boost your daily energy, and Reena, we're not talking about chugging a cup of coffee or an energy drink. These are habitual changes that we can make, and you say the first one has to do with taking some breaks. So tell me what that means.
Yeah, so taking breaks is really important. According to Study Finds research, 74% of Americans said that if they had more energy, they could increase their career earning potential. 71% said that they would feel happier if they had more energy. So on a work— typical workday, the recommendation would be to take breaks every 90 minutes. When I worked for Google many years ago, I took a class called Managing Your Energy, Not Your Time, put together by the Energy Project, and what the research showed was that we can really only focus for about an hour and a half, maybe 90-minute blocks of time. After that, we start to lose our creativity, our analytical thinking, our problem-thinking skills, just problem-solving skills go down. So it's important to take a break, go grab a sip of water, go talk to a colleague, maybe go outside, get a couple steps in, get some fresh air, and then and then come back to your work, because you'll be that much more refreshed, both mind and body, to then continue to produce high-quality work.
Wonderful. And when you say take a break, you're just talking about a couple of minutes? What would be an ideal break?
Yeah, an ideal break time would be about 10 minutes.
Okay.
Right? Just enough time to like go outside, get some air, hydrate, whatever you need to do. So it doesn't have to be a super long break, but it just gets you away from your computer screen, your phone, your desk, the environment you're in, and just changes things up a bit.
Wonderful. Well, the next tip you have for us is to get our blood sugar under control, really be mindful of what we're putting in our bodies.
Exactly. I think we've all felt that crash at 1 or 2 PM after lunch, right? Your blood sugar goes down and you feel that, and that can really affect your energy. So it is important to eat nutrient-dense, balanced foods about every 3 to 4 hours to keep your blood sugar in check and also your cognitive functioning. Um, when you are really lethargic and lacking energy and you need something to fuel you up, um, that's gonna help because when your mind your mind isn't functioning properly, again, you're just gonna be harder to have a conversation with, you're gonna probably not nail that presentation at work, the workout's gonna suffer. So the nutrition piece of it, again, every 3 to 4 hours can really help.
All right, and of course exercise goes hand in hand with nutrition. I have been slacking lately, but I always feel better when I get that workout in in the morning.
Yes, I think that's the key. We've talked about exercise a ton together on the show, so everybody knows, I think, the importance of it, but the timing of it can also make a big difference. I think in general, if you can exercise first thing in the morning, that is going to boost your endorphins, it's going to get your heart rate up for that cardiovascular activity, your muscles are going to start working, and that's going to give you energy through the day. Now, if that doesn't work in your schedule, maybe you need to do a lunchtime workout or something in the evening, that's okay too, because when you are feeling sluggish, just getting up and moving at any point of the day can definitely help.
You know, as working parents, a lot of us find it hard to get enough sleep, but you say that is something that we really need to prioritize.
Yeah, sleep is really important. Obviously, we all are trying to get the recommended 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night, you know, and then you want to get the level of quality of sleep. So an hour and a half of REM sleep, an hour and a half of deep sleep is what you really need. Now, while that's not always possible, what I do recommend, maybe not during the week because during the workday it's hard, but on a weekend, take a power nap, right? Maybe 30 to 45 minutes in the afternoon before you have to go to an event if you have that free time. Because that will revitalize you. I would not recommend, you know, an hour or 2-hour nap in the middle of the day because that's going to affect your sleep at night, but don't be afraid to, you know, make up for lost sleep and fill in with some power naps and just try to get the highest quality of sleep you can to really up your energy levels.
All right, well, what are your thoughts on just really shifting our mindset? Instead of saying, "I'm tired," what can we do to really shift that whole mindset?
Yeah, because I think that's very common, right? In just day-to-day conversation socially or in society, everyone talks about how busy they are, how exhausted they are, and I think if we're always we're tired and exhausted and busy, we're gonna feel that way no matter what. So the shift in the mindset is really focus on having an abundance of energy. Sometimes we might have to dig deeper on certain days than others, but having that sort of abundance mindset with energy, being grateful, being positive, and just focusing on your productivity can really help. And again, all the things we talked about, taking those breaks, getting the nutrients, getting the exercise, and focusing on sleep can help in those moments when you're feeling really sluggish.
Wonderful. Well, Reena Vokoun, our health and wellness expert, Expert, thank you so much. Thank you for joining us. Today's show was sponsored by, uh, who did we have sponsoring our show today? The Super Dentist, Colosseo Cucina Italiana, Gomez Trial Attorneys, and of course our friend from FashionFit. If you'd like to be on the show, send us an email. We'll see you next time.
