ad - This post is in collaboration with Füd.

I spend a lot of time talking about the importance of rest but I also recognise that sometimes you just need to power through. So what can you do?

All of my work is tied together by one common thread - stress, plus rest, over awareness equals energy. Within this I often find myself emphasising the importance of rest, it’s a reaction to the world’s resistance to the idea that slowing down can be a good thing because I believe that rest is at the heart of success. However, there are situations where it’s just not possible to rest. Got an exam? You’re not going to have time for as much rest as usual. Got a deadline? You’re not going to have time for as much rest as usual. So what can you do to get through these challenging times without rest?

Take Advantage of the Adrenaline Rush

Adrenaline is the hormone that’s released when our bodies think we’re under threat from a predator. It was pretty handy back when we were faced with hungry wild animals but today the stress of day to day life can trigger an adrenaline response because our bodies don’t know the difference between a bear chasing us and a rapidly approaching deadline.

In the long term living in a constant state of stress is terrible for us, but in the short term we can use the adrenaline boost to get things done. Think about the last time you had a deadline approaching, did you notice that the slight panic you felt pushed you to action? I often rely on the surge of adrenaline to get me through the last push when I’m working on a big project and I am totally ok with that as long as I don’t make it a habit.

Stress is neither good nor bad, it’s just a state of being and while we should be engaging strategies to manage that stress as much as possible, it is also totally fine to embrace it when you need to.

Accept burnout

Left unchecked burning out - a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress - can be absolutely devastating and Nate Klemp (2019) sums the general perception of burnout pretty well:

However, what if we could use burnout strategically in pursuit of a goal? Instead of seeing burnout as something to avoid when we’re working on an all consuming and stressful project we could opt to factor in a period of recovery after the project has finished. Burnout is the exhaustion that follows going all in on a project (my favourite analogy is that it’s like runners ‘emptying the tank’ during a race), it is how we get the most out of the adrenaline boost that comes with facing stress and it can even ‘be a catalyst for making the hard decisions that we tend to avoid in our ordinary lives’ (Klemp, 2019).

Make no mistake, I’m not saying we should live in a constant state of burnout, but from time to time it’s totally acceptable to embrace the idea that you will push yourself to the point of burnout in pursuit of a goal and that there are benefits to doing this.

Let Go Of What’s Not Important

A few years ago I was studying for a masters degree while working full time in a pretty demanding job. I was in a state of perpetual stress and while I knew it’d be worth it (I’d get a masters degree without racking up any debt!) I also knew something had to give. I wrote down all the things I thought were important and ranked them in order of most important to least important. Anything at the top of the list became a non-negotiable (for example performing in my studies and at work) and anything at the bottom of the list I let go of (for example I gave myself permission to buy ready cooked food) which freed me up to focus on what mattered and got rid of a whole lot of unnecessary stress!

It’s not always easy to let go of the things that end up at the bottom of your list of priorities, especially as we’re fed so many messages about what being productive and successful ‘ought’ to look like, but once you get through that it can be a total game changer.

Use Supplements To Boost Your Energy

There will always be times in life when you desperately want to rest, but you can’t for whatever reason and the task at hand isn’t prompting an adrenaline response, maybe you’re travelling or perhaps a noisy neighbour kept you up late. Whatever it is this is where supplements can be really handy, and specifically energy drinks.

I’ve dabbled in energy drinks and supplements quite a bit over the last 15 years or so. At law school I’d take a can of one of those really noxious energy drinks into every exam almost as a good luck charm and vitamin supplements got passed around my high school dorms in the weeks leading up to exams. Being quite honest I suspect my love of supplements comes from the comfort it gives me to feel like I’m ‘doing something’ when I’m stressed out, but over time there are a few ingredients that have really stood out to me a effective, and it seems like I’m not the only one who’s felt a boost after taking them. Füd is a new type of energy drink that’s a healthy, natural alternative to the radioactive drinks I’d clutch as I entered exam halls and it happens to contain three of the ingredients that I’ve found really effective over the years when I’ve needed to power through stressful situations.

CAFFEINE - the classic energy boosting ingredient! According to Susan Roberts, professor of nutrition at the Friedman School, ‘there are so many metabolic effects of caffeine that it has been hard to sort out which, exactly, are responsible for the increase in physical and mental energy that most users experience’ (2009). However, caffeine is known to boost dopamine which can affect our concentration levels, increase the release of catecholamines such as adrenaline and it blocks adenosine receptors in the basal forebrain which would normally signal when it’s time to go to sleep.

GUARANA - the caffeine blend that Füd uses contains guarana, an ancient Amazonian berry with energy boosting credentials. It’s a great source of caffeine if you want to maintain focus and mental energy.

VITAMIN B5 - helps the body maintain muscle function and a healthy digestive system as well as contributing to the process of converting food into energy.

VITAMIN B6 - plays an important role in mood regulation and helps maintain mental performance.

VITAMIN B12 - assists with brain function and helps boost energy. It’s particularly important for vegans to take a B12 supplement as it isn’t always readily available in a plant based diet.

ELECTROLYTES - these minerals are found in your blood, urine, tissues and other bodily fluids and are important because they help balance the amount of water in your body. When your electrolyte levels are low you might start to experience symptoms of dehydration such as headaches, dizziness and fatigue.

What are your strategies for powering through? Let me know in the comments below!

This post was in collaboration with Füd who gifted me products to try out. All opinions are my own.