Put More Pep in Your Step

Did we catch you midyawn? We get it. Life can be exhausting. Finish that deep breath and keep reading. These surprising tips will help you say so long to energy crashes.

- NAOMI BARR

YOU'RE DOING ALL the right things to maximize your energy-getting to bed at a reasonable hour, hitting the gym regularly, passing up junk food (most of the time), drinking lots o' water. Yet at the end of the day (or sometimes in the middle), you find yourself feeling spent, burned-out, done. You're not the only one who's dragging: In a recent survey of 2,000 U.S. adults, three out of five reported they were more tired than ever. To pull yourself out of your personal energy crisis, you may need to look beyond the sleep-move-and-eat basics (though those are important) and try some unconventional ways to restore your body and mind. Here are a few ideas to get you on the path from zapped to zing.

Streamline Decision-Making

Every day, we face a series of decisions, from the moment we wake up (hit the snooze button or hit the ground running?) to the moment we go to bed (floss or just forget it?). The more choices we have to make, the more decision fatigue sets in. Consider one of those seemingly endless restaurant menus, says psychologist Barry Schwartz, PhD, a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business and the author of The Paradox of Choice. "It's going to take more work to choose from a menu that has 30 entrées than one that has five." Another complication: the trade-offs involved (i.e., the sacrifices we may make as a result of our choices, such as time or money). The higher the stakes, the more exhausting the decision. For example, deciding whether to quit your job would be more tiring than deciding between fish and chicken.