The Energy Hack You’ve Been Waiting For – Listen to your Ultradian Rhythm. Take A Breather Every 90-Minutes To Feel Happier & More Productive

Are you really marching to the beat of your own drum or is your foot on the pedal trying to keep-up with the relentless pace of modern life? I think we’ve all been there, and maybe you still are?!

It’s the exhausting norm these days to push through to burn-out and live completely out-of-sync with natural rhythms, like your Ultradian Rhythm. By keeping this go-go pace your health and happiness suffer; you feel lethargic and burnt out. If you tried the opposite and reconnected with your in-built rhythms, you would significantly elevate your productivity, improve your mood & focus, and feel more content.

The western world is driven by productivity and the work environment hasn’t always been informed about the need for regular breaks. There’s been a lack of knowledge about Ultradian Rhythms and how pauses actually boost productivity. Instead false beliefs connecting rest with laziness prevailed, but thankfully more organisations are recognising that working long hours doesn’t mean higher output.

“…but I’ve never even heard of my Ultradian Rhythm” – tell me more

Ultradian means “many times a day” and a rhythm is like an up-and-down wave. They’re a bit like your 24 hour circadian rhythm (your sleep-wake cycle), except Ultraidan Rhythms are shorter and occur many times a day. When you notice and respond to your Ultradian Rhythms, you can perform at a high-level all day long. Aligning to your natural rhythm sustains your energy, mental clarity and cravings, and has powerful effect on your mental health and productivity.

Your Ultradian Rhythm’s not some woo-woo concept – it’s in your DNA and is a measurable, quantifiable biological pattern your body must maintain to function optimally. You can thrive more easily when you follow your internal bodyclock of 90-minutes of energy followed by a 20-minute reset. Think peaks and troughs. During those peak 90-minutes your body burns through a lot of oxygen and glucose to help you to perform well. At the end of 90-minutes, your energy, productivity and performance hit a trough. You look for caffeine, sugar or carbs to pick you back-up and cope with the rest of your day, but these effects don’t last long eh?!

I’ll be honest, until I learned about Ultradian Rhythms, I hadn’t really noticed how often I pushed through my day either. I used sugar to try to move out of energy slumps in the afternoon – isn’t that what we’ve been taught to do: to find any way we can to keep trudging through the day?! Now I know about my Ultradian Rhythm, if I find myself craving sugar, I’m better at pausing and asking “when did I last take a real break?” and “what does my body really need right now?” – two simple questions that make a big difference to the quality of my day. Maybe they could do the same for yours.

When you ignore your body’s cues for a break, your mind and body decline quickly. Take a flower for example, if it doesn’t get enough water and sunlight it won’t blossom, it’ll wilt. You’re part of nature and exactly the same – when you neglect your basic needs, toxins build up, blood sugar and hormone levels get disrupted, you feel moody, irritable, fatigued and sluggish, and your immunity weakens. You’re out-of-sync.

What are your cues that you need a break?

Your body gives you gently nudges when you need a break. It wants you to shift gears and re-energise for the next part of your day. Some of these cues are losing the ability to think as clearly, feeling tired, making more mistakes and typos, are being more reactive with your colleagues, feeling less creative and less productive. I bet when this happens, you put the kettle on and look for some caffeine, sugar and/or carbs to pick your mood back-up for the rest of the day? These vices are short-lived and a common part of most people’s mid-morning and mid-afternoon work day habits.

Reflecting for a moment, what do you think your main cravings are when you need a break? Could you ask yourself questions like “when did I last take a break and what do I need right now?” instead of reaching for the coffee or sugar.

Our bodies naturally enjoy ebb and flow; I find if I’ve been sitting still for awhile, I often want to move or if I’ve been moving, stillness is usually what my body needs. Taking intentional breaks and using just 20 minutes to do what your mind & body’s asking for is a simple, yet a highly effective strategy to success and a happier and healthier life. Imagine how good you would feel if you met your needs and did what your body’s asking for instead of pushing through or reaching for that vice?

Sync with your natural rhythm to thrive

Research tells us that short breaks throughout the day can improve your focus, creativity and problem-solving which makes taking breaks an easy decision. Begin to notice your own rhythms, set the alarm on your phone to go off after ninety minutes then move away from the automatic, in-grained, keep on trucking approach, and instead check-in, pay attention to what your needs and simply do what it’s asking for. 

The truth is: the more aligned you become, the more you’ll achieve. The counter-productive approach is the answer! So take that mid-morning and mid-afternoon break and watch your work and personal life thrive. If you’ve been looking at a screen for the last 90 minutes, now probably isn’t the time to scroll on social media or read the news on your phone. If you’ve been sitting still, getting outside for a walk could be what your body needs. Give it a go and I’d love to hear how you get on.