Who doesn’t wish they had more energy during the day? If you’re feeling overly tired and it’s time to feel a bit better, you should know that it is possible. You don’t need to be Superman or Superwoman to call upon those extra reserves of energy, but you will need to be willing to make a few small life changes. Here are a few things you can do to get a little more pep in your step.

Do Your Diet Right

Eating right isn’t only about being happy when you step on the scale. The food you eat on a day-to-day basis plays a large part in determining how you feel. Food is your body’s fuel, and if you’re lacking nutrition, you’re going to be feeling fatigued. It’s common sense that processed foods are high in the bad stuff and low in the good stuff, so try to incorporate more whole foods like fruits and vegetables into your diet. Plus, make sure you’re drinking enough water. Dehydration doesn’t occur only in the desert, and if you’re not getting your daily recommended dose of water, your body has trouble performing as well as it could be.

Get Up and Moving

Many of us spend a lot of time sitting at a desk while we work, and it’s starting to come to light how bad that really is for our bodies. Consider this: if you spend eight hours sleeping, eight hours sitting at work, and eight hours hours in between getting ready for work and resting, your body isn’t doing enough to stay fit and burn off extra calories. You don’t need to spend a lot of time exercising, either, as doctors recommend just a half hour of fitness everyday. Even people with the busiest schedules can make time for a quick walk or a few pushups and crunches. Working out just a little bit every day will make you feel better and keep you more alert during the day.

Give Your Eyes a Break at Night

Everyone knows that you should get around eight hours of sleep every night. But, it’s not just about how much sleep you get every night – the quality of the sleep you get is just as important, and it affects how awake you feel during the day. Even if you have the comfiest bed and comforter set on the planet, your sleep will suffer if you’re watching TV or playing with your phone shortly before bedtime. Blue light emitted from device screens messes with the brain, tricking it into thinking it’s still daylight out. So, an hour before you go to bed, turn off the devices, dim the lights, and focus on a different activity, like reading, that’s calming and better on the eyes.

Watch the Caffeine

Are you a person who thrives on coffee throughout the day? Perhaps you enjoy a cup of tea once you get home? Or maybe you just need to have a tall glass of soda to go along with your nightly dinner? If so, you might need to rethink your caffeine intake. Obviously, caffeine has the power to give us that extra little boost, but drinking more than one or two cups a day, especially during the afternoon and at night, can mess with your sleep. Plus, the more you drink, the greater your body adapts to the drug, making greater doses less effective. Instead of relying on cup after cup of joe to get you through your day, focus on the other, more natural ways of boosting your energy.