Another myth is that mental energy is solely influenced by our mental activities. While mental activities do play a part, our mental energy also greatly depends on other factors, such as our physical health, diet, sleep, and emotional state. Physical energy is often more apparent to us than mental energy.

It's the strength and stamina we require to engage in physical activities, from simple tasks like walking or lifting objects to more strenuous activities like running or weightlifting.

In contrast, mental energy is subtler but just as significant. It's the fuel that powers our brain, enabling us to concentrate, make decisions, and think creatively.

One of the main differences between physical and mental energy lies in how they are energized. While a cup of coffee or an energy drink can immediately boost energy in terms of physical stamina, mental energy requires a more comprehensive approach involving sleep, nutrition, exercise, and stress management.

Although they are distinct, physical and mental energy are intimately linked. For example, regular physical activity is known to enhance cognitive function and increase mental energy. Exercise stimulates the release of chemicals in the brain, such as dopamine and serotonin, that not only make us feel happier but also help improve concentration and mental sharpness.

At the same time, our mental state can also influence our physical energy. Chronic stress or mental health conditions like depression can lead to physical symptoms, including fatigue and lack of energy. Thus, maintaining a healthy mind is equally crucial for sustaining physical energy.

The key to unlocking more mental energy requires a multi-faceted approach. Here are some ways you can nurture mental energy. Adequate sleep is crucial to our cognitive performance and gives us the motivation to get up and face the day with renewed vigor.

While we sleep, our brain is hard at work, consolidating memories and removing toxic waste products that accumulate during the day. Furthermore, a good night's sleep enables the brain to rejuvenate , preparing it for a new day of problem-solving, decision-making, and creativity.

Sleep deprivation, on the other hand, can lead to a significant decline in mental energy. Symptoms can range from reduced concentration and poor decision-making to difficulties in emotion regulation. To keep your mental energy at optimal levels, experts recommend everyone strive to achieve an average of seven to nine hours per night.

Our brain, like any other organ, needs adequate fuel to function effectively. Consuming a diet rich in whole grains, lean proteins, fruits, and vegetables can provide the brain with essential nutrients, including omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and B vitamins.

These nutrients play a key role in supporting brain health and maintaining stable mental energy levels. However, a diet high in refined sugars and unhealthy fats can lead to oxidative stress in the brain, harming neurons and impairing cognitive function.

Physical activity is powerful for both physical and mental energy, and the health benefits of these activities extend beyond just muscle strength. Numerous studies show the positive impact of regular exercise on brain health. Physical activity increases blood flow to the brain, ensuring it receives the oxygen and nutrients necessary for optimal function.

Moreover, exercise stimulates the release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor BDNF. This protein promotes the growth and survival of neurons, enhancing mental energy and cognitive abilities, including memory and learning.

So, whether it's a long walk, a yoga session, or a vigorous workout, any form of consistent exercise will significantly benefit your mental energy levels. While social media can be an invaluable tool for connection and information, it can also be a significant drain on mental energy when used excessively.

The constant stream of updates, news, and notifications can be overwhelming, draining our mental resources and leading to feelings of burnout. Furthermore, social media can trigger feelings of anxiety and depression, further depleting mental energy. Thus, setting screen time limits is a practical step toward maintaining a healthy balance.

By using these platforms mindfully, you can preserve your mental energy and ensure that it's used in more productive and satisfying ways. Life today often seems to demand the speed and productivity of a marathon runner, leaving us with little time to stop, rest, or recharge.

This relentless pace can easily deplete our mental energy, making even the simplest tasks seem overwhelming. But don't despair; even in the midst of a hectic schedule, you can employ certain strategies to preserve and even boost your mental energy:.

Planning your day, prioritizing tasks, and setting short-term, achievable goals can bring a sense of order to your mind, helping you stay focused and present.

This mental organization reduces anxiety and stress levels, thereby conserving and even boosting your mental energy. Remember to include breaks in your to-do list; regular intervals of rest can prevent burnout and keep your mental energy levels optimal. Chronic stress and overwork can lead to burnout, which is characterized by physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion.

Symptoms include cynicism, decreased productivity, and a sense of ineffectiveness. Recognizing these signs early is crucial. Once you acknowledge burnout, you can begin to restore balance by integrating rest, leisure, and self-care into your routine.

This approach will help keep your mental energy levels from dipping too low and ensure a more sustainable pace in the long run. Various studies and research have shown that practicing mindfulness techniques can enhance mental clarity and focus.

Mindfulness involves staying present and fully engaged in the present moment, which can prevent mental energy drain from constant multitasking or worrying about the future.

Techniques such as mindful breathing, yoga, and meditation can provide much-needed mental refreshment, helping you manage your mental energy more effectively. Our Alert and Focus Gummies are not a temporary pick-me-up nor a weight loss product; they are designed to support gradual, sustained mental energy over time.

But what makes them so special? The secret lies in our proprietary cellular energizer — M-Charge. Just as a rechargeable battery uses an electric current to restore its energy, M-Charge works at a cellular level to rejuvenate your mental energy. Our M-Charge complex is a blend of key nutrients specifically formulated by physicians to support cellular health and encourage mental energy.

The gummies also contain other beneficial ingredients that contribute to mental energy, such as B vitamins for supporting brain health and various antioxidants for fighting cellular damage.

Increasing mental energy involves more than just boosting your physical stamina or downing a cup of coffee. If you want to boost your concentration naturally, try to get outside every day, even for a short while.

You might take a short walk through a park. Sitting in your garden or backyard can also help. Any natural environment has benefits. According to the American Psychological Association APA , spending time in nature can have a positive impact on both physical and mental health.

Research from found evidence to suggest including plants in office spaces helped increase concentration and productivity, as well as workplace satisfaction and air quality.

Try adding a plant or two to your workspace or home for a range of positive benefits. Children benefit from natural environments, too. Research published in followed over 1, children from birth to age 7. The study hoped to determine how lifelong exposure to trees and greenery at home or in the neighborhood might affect attention in children.

The study suggests that natural environments could benefit brain development and may improve attention in children. For children with ADHD, research suggests spending time in nature can:. What are some more natural remedies for ADHD?

Meditation and mindfulness practices can offer multiple benefits. Improved concentration is only one of these. A review of 23 studies found evidence to suggest mindfulness training that emphasizes attention focus could help increase attention and focus.

Mindfulness can also improve memory and other cognitive abilities. Yoga , deep breathing, and many other activities can help you meditate. What are some other benefits of meditation? How can taking a break from work or homework increase your concentration? This idea might seem counterintuitive, but experts say it really works.

But your struggle to focus just makes you feel stressed and anxious about not completing your work in time. Next time this happens, when you first feel your concentration drop, take a short mental break. Refresh yourself with a cool drink or nutritious snack, take a quick walk, or go outside and get some sun.

Breaks can help boost these functions and more. What are some signs of burnout? Turning on music while working or studying may help increase concentration, but this will depend on the individual.

What are some more benefits of music? The foods you eat can affect cognitive functions like concentration and memory.

To boost concentration, avoid processed foods, too much sugar, and very greasy or fatty foods. You can find more brain foods on this list. Staying hydrated can also have a positive impact on concentration. Even mild dehydration can make it harder to focus or remember information.

Eating breakfast can help by boosting your focus first thing in the morning. Oatmeal, plain yogurt with fruit, or whole-grain toast with eggs are all good breakfast choices. Which foods can help if you have depression? If you feel your concentration starting to drop, consider a cup of coffee or green tea.

A study found evidence to suggest phytochemicals naturally found in matcha, a type of green tea, not only improve cognitive function but can help promote relaxation. So matcha may be a good option if coffee makes you feel jittery or on edge.

How does caffeine affect your body? Some supplements may help promote concentration and improve brain function. However, there is not enough research to confirm that these supplements are effective or safe for everyone.

Also, the Food and Drug Administration FDA does not regulate supplements. This means you cannot be sure of the precise ingredients or how supplements will interact with other drugs. Always check with a doctor before trying any supplements, especially if you have any health conditions or allergies.

Which supplements can help you focus better? Concentration workouts often help children who have trouble focusing. This mental workout involves fully devoting attention to an activity for a set period of time. After completing one of the activities, ask your child to write a short summary or sketch how they felt during the experience.

Young children can simply use words to describe their feelings. Talking about where they lost concentration and how they managed to refocus can help them develop these skills for use in daily tasks. Multitasking has become part of daily life.

It seems a good way to get a lot done, but some scientists have questioned this. Studies have suggested that we are not as good at multitasking as we like to think we are. For one thing, the brain is not designed to cope with doing two or more things at once.

What we are actually doing is switching from one task to another. If you have the chance to tackle one thing at a time, you might find you can concentrate better on each of them.

Blocking off time for specific tasks can help you focus on one thing at a time and lower the risk of environmental distractions. Setting time limits can also help you channel your energy toward the task in hand because you know the time you can or need to spend on it is limited.

Researchers looking for ways to help people overcome these challenges have suggested the following tips :. The Marinara Timer, for example, encourages a person to work for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break. After four blocks of 25 minutes, the person will take a minute break.

This way, you can focus fully on a task for the allotted time and do something else in the breaks. These allow you to set a goal to not use your phone. If you use the phone too soon, the tree will die. Other apps allow you to set goals for specific sites each day, such as the news or social media.

Trouble concentrating can relate to things going on around you. Common causes include interruptions from co-workers, distractions from your roommates or family members, or social media notifications. Some common ones include:. What is stopping me from focusing?

Sometimes it takes a trained professional to notice these symptoms. Many adults living with untreated ADHD have trouble concentrating or focusing their attention for long periods of time. A mental health professional can help diagnose this or any other condition and help you get started on treatment.

Therapy, medication, and other treatment approaches can help improve your symptoms once you have a diagnosis. Some people use prescription or recreational drugs, such as nootropics, to improve their focus, but some of these can have severe adverse effects.

Some ways to improve concentration may work well, while others may not seem to do much for you. Consider giving a range of approaches a try to see what helps.

Experts still debate the benefits of certain methods, such as brain training. But existing evidence suggests most of these tips can promote at least modest improvements in concentration for many people. Just make sure to talk to your doctor if focusing is very hard. Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.

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This can be caused by a number of physiological stressors such as inflammation, injury to blood vessels especially if you have high blood pressure , the buildup of abnormal proteins, and naturally occurring brain shrinkage.

Underlying conditions. Depression or sleep disorders such as sleep apnea can undermine your ability to concentrate. So can the effects of vision or hearing loss.

You waste precious cognitive resources when you spend too much time trying to make out what's written on a page or just hear what someone is saying. Medication side effects. Some drugs, especially anticholinergics such as treatments for incontinence, depression, or allergies , can slow processing speed and your ability to think clearly.

Excessive drinking. Having too much alcohol impairs thinking and causes interrupted sleep, which affects concentration. Information overload. We are bombarded with information from TVs, computers, and messages such as texts or emails. When there's too much material, it burdens our filtering system and it's easy to get distracted.

Want a way to boost your attention and focus? Neuropsychologist Kim Willment of Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital suggests a single-task exercise like reading.

When it goes off, ask yourself if your mind has wandered. If so, just refocus on what you're reading," she says. She recommends sitting still for a few minutes each day, closing your eyes, and focusing on your breathing as well as the sounds and sensations around you.

Cognitive training. Computerized cognitive training games aim to improve your response times and attention. Evidence that this works has been mixed. So if you reach a certain level of sustained attention, pushing it to the next level can help improve it, and this may translate to everyday life.

A healthier lifestyle. Many aspects of a healthy lifestyle can help attention, starting with sleep and exercise. There is a direct link between exercise and cognitive ability, especially attention. When you exercise, you increase the availability of brain chemicals that promote new brain connections, reduce stress, and improve sleep.

And when we sleep, we reduce stress hormones that can be harmful to the brain, and we clear out proteins that injure it.

Aim for seven to eight hours of sleep each night, and minutes per week of aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking. Other healthy steps to improve focus: eat a Mediterranean-style diet, which has been shown to support brain health; treat underlying conditions; and change medications that may be affecting your ability to focus.

Getting older is out of your control, but healthier living is something you determine, and it may improve concentration.

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Most importantly, it promotes all kinds of changes in the brain, including neural growth, reduced inflammation, and new activity patterns that promote feelings of calm and well-being. It also releases endorphins, powerful chemicals in your brain that energize your spirits and make you feel good.

Finally, exercise can also serve as a distraction, allowing you to find some quiet time to break out of the cycle of negative thoughts that feed depression. Exercise is a natural and effective anti-anxiety treatment. It relieves tension and stress, boosts physical and mental energy, and enhances well-being through the release of endorphins.

Anything that gets you moving can help, but you'll get a bigger benefit if you pay attention instead of zoning out. Try to notice the sensation of your feet hitting the ground, for example, or the rhythm of your breathing, or the feeling of the wind on your skin.

By adding this mindfulness element—really focusing on your body and how it feels as you exercise—you'll not only improve your physical condition faster, but you may also be able to interrupt the flow of constant worries running through your head.

Ever noticed how your body feels when you're under stress? Your muscles may be tense, especially in your face, neck, and shoulders, leaving you with back or neck pain, or painful headaches.

You may feel a tightness in your chest, a pounding pulse, or muscle cramps. You may also experience problems such as insomnia, heartburn, stomachache, diarrhea, or frequent urination. The worry and discomfort of all these physical symptoms can in turn lead to even more stress, creating a vicious cycle between your mind and body.

Exercising is an effective way to break this cycle. As well as releasing endorphins in the brain, physical activity helps to relax the muscles and relieve tension in the body. Since the body and mind are so closely linked, when your body feels better so, too, will your mind.

Exercising regularly is one of the easiest and most effective ways to reduce the symptoms of ADHD and improve concentration, motivation, memory, and mood.

Physical activity immediately boosts the brain's dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin levels—all of which affect focus and attention. In this way, exercise works in much the same way as ADHD medications such as Ritalin and Adderall. Instead of allowing your mind to wander, pay close attention to the physical sensations in your joints and muscles, even your insides as your body moves.

Exercises that involve cross movement and that engage both arms and legs—such as walking especially in sand , running, swimming, weight training, or dancing—are some of your best choices.

Outdoor activities like hiking, sailing, mountain biking, rock climbing, whitewater rafting, and skiing downhill and cross-country have also been shown to reduce the symptoms of PTSD.

BetterHelp is an online therapy service that matches you to licensed, accredited therapists who can help with depression, anxiety, relationships, and more. Take the assessment and get matched with a therapist in as little as 48 hours. Sharper memory and thinking.

The same endorphins that make you feel better also help you concentrate and feel mentally sharp for tasks at hand. Exercise also stimulates the growth of new brain cells and helps prevent age-related decline. Higher self-esteem.

Regular activity is an investment in your mind, body, and soul. When it becomes habit, it can foster your sense of self-worth and make you feel strong and powerful. You'll feel better about your appearance and, by meeting even small exercise goals, you'll feel a sense of achievement.

Better sleep. Even short bursts of exercise in the morning or afternoon can help regulate your sleep patterns. If you prefer to exercise at night, relaxing exercises such as yoga or gentle stretching can help promote sleep.

More energy. Increasing your heart rate several times a week will give you more get-up-and-go. Start off with just a few minutes of exercise per day, and increase your workout as you feel more energized. Stronger resilience. When faced with mental or emotional challenges in life, exercise can help you build resilience and cope in a healthy way, instead of resorting to alcohol, drugs, or other negative behaviors that ultimately only make your symptoms worse.

Regular exercise can also help boost your immune system and reduce the impact of stress. Just minutes of moderate exercise five times a week is enough. Start with 5- or minute sessions and slowly increase your time. The key is to commit to some moderate physical activity—however little—on most days.

As exercising becomes a habit, you can slowly add extra minutes or try different types of activities. If you keep at it, the benefits of exercise will begin to pay off.

Research shows that moderate levels of exercise are best for most people. Moderate means:. A recent study in the United Kingdom found that people who squeeze their exercise routines into one or two sessions during the weekend experience almost as many health benefits as those who work out more often.

So don't let a busy schedule at work, home, or school be an excuse to avoid activity. Get moving whenever you can find the time—your mind and body will thank you! Even when you know that exercise will help you feel better, taking that first step is still easier said than done.

Feeling exhausted. But the truth is that physical activity is a powerful energizer. Studies show that regular exercise can dramatically reduce fatigue and increase your energy levels. If you are really feeling tired, promise yourself a quick, 5-minute walk.

Feeling overwhelmed. If you have children, finding childcare while you exercise can also be a big hurdle. Feeling hopeless. Start slow with easy, low-impact activities a few minutes each day, such as walking or dancing.

Feeling bad about yourself. Are you your own worst critic? No matter your weight, age or fitness level, there are plenty of others in the same boat. Ask a friend to exercise with you. Accomplishing even the smallest fitness goals will help you gain body confidence and improve how you think about yourself.

Feeling pain. If you have a disability, severe weight problem, arthritis, or any injury or illness that limits your mobility, talk to your doctor about ways to safely exercise. Divide your exercise into shorter, more frequent chunks of time if that helps, or try exercising in water to reduce joint or muscle discomfort.

Many of us find it hard enough to motivate ourselves to exercise at the best of times. But when you feel depressed, anxious, stressed or have another mental health problem, it can seem doubly difficult.

This is especially true of depression and anxiety, which can leave you feeling trapped in a catch situation. Start small. Better to set achievable goals and build up from there. Schedule workouts when your energy is highest.

Perhaps you have most energy first thing in the morning before work or school or at lunchtime before the mid-afternoon lull hits? Or maybe you do better exercising for longer at the weekends. If depression or anxiety has you feeling tired and unmotivated all day long, try dancing to some music or simply going for a walk.

Even a short, minute walk can help clear your mind, improve your mood, and boost your energy level. Focus on activities you enjoy. Any activity that gets you moving counts. That could include throwing a Frisbee with a dog or friend, walking laps of a mall window shopping, or cycling to the grocery store.

If you've never exercised before or don't know what you might enjoy, try a few different things. Activities such as gardening or tackling a home improvement project can be great ways to start moving more when you have a mood disorder—as well as helping you become more active, they can also leave you with a sense of purpose and accomplishment.

Be comfortable.