Rev Up Your Energy!

Five Tips for Boosting Your Energy and Productivity

By
Relationship Advice Expert April Masini

Q: Dear April Masini,

By the time I get home at night, I can barely function. Between work, shuttling around my kids and taking care of the other things on my "to-do" list (visiting my parents, laundry, going out to coffee with friends -- you name it), I am totally exhausted at the end of the day. The problem is, this is when I get to see my husband.

Like most couples, we both work every day and see each other at night. But lately I've been so wiped out, I find myself falling asleep on the couch when he's talking to me. I don't dare go out to dinner with him most nights; I would probably end up face-down on the table. What can I do to make our time together more fulfilling (or at least to be awake during it)?

Signed,

Tired Wife 

A:

Dear Tired Wife,

It sounds as though you and your husband are making time for one another, which is good. The problem is, you don't have energy left over for him at the end of the night. This is what happens when you’ve given so much of yourself — to your job, to your family, to your friends, to your projects. How do you get it back?

Here are five tips towards restoring your energy:

1. Get a massage. Now, more than ever, you need to take care of your body to take care of all the tasks and family and friends. A massage is an hour out of a day that will pay off exponentially. Consider it an early present to yourself.

2. Get a manicure/pedicure. It’s not as dumb as it sounds. Sitting in the chair, alone, for the time it takes for your fingers and toes to be done, is a forced rest period. The polish is a bonus.

3. Take yourself out to lunch for one. And not at a drive through! Sit yourself down at a nice restaurant and order yourself a salad or an entree that someone else is going to take the time to prepare for you. Have a glass of wine and an espresso before and after. Like the manicure/pedicure, sitting at a restaurant waiting for your order, eating your lunch, and sipping your coffee after is a forced rest. Your body will rejuvenate from the rest. Your body will be nourished by the healthy (not grabbed on the go) food, and your spirit will thank you for taking care of you so you can take care of others.

4. Make time for sex. Trust me — in all the hustle bustle, you’ll forget. You’ll be too tired. You’ll have shopping, shuttling and visiting to do that will take precedence if you don’t make time for sex — a stress buster, rejuvenator and relationship builder.

5. Buy yourself a new fragrance. Aromatherapy is no joke. Inhaling a pleasing fragrance that is new, will give you a pleasant jump start. Relieve your stress, treat your senses — and everyone else’s around you!

If you need ideas for how to rejuvenate the time you and your husband spend together, check out my book, Romantic Date Ideas. It has many ways to keep relationships fresh and interesting, no matter how long you have been together!

April Masini -- nicknamed "the new millennium's Dear Abby" by the media, is author of the best-selling books Date Out Of Your League and Think & Date Like A Man, the two (just released) step-by-step dating and relationship manuals, Ideas for a Fun Date and Romantic Date Ideas, and the critically acclaimed dating and relationship online magazine www.AskApril.com.

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