Manage Your Energy Not Your Time....
How to bank energy and reduce your energy drain...
(In the Northern Hemisphere) summer is well and truly with us. Many of you will be looking forward to some time off to relax and recharge. In the spirit of reflection, I would like to offer you a few thoughts on managing your energy and sustaining your leadership.
Is your job demanding more from you than ever before? Even though you are working longer hours you’re not getting ahead. Do you feel exhausted, disengaged, sick or burnt out?
Spending longer hours at work and even longer hours at home doesn’t work because your time is a limited resource. However, your personal energy is a renewable source. Defined in physics as the capacity to work, energy comes from four main wellsprings in human beings: the body, emotions, mind and spirit. By adopting simple rituals that will help you replenish your energy you can strengthen your physical, emotional and spiritual resilience. These rituals involve taking brief breaks, expressing appreciation to others, reducing interruptions and spending more time on the activities you do best and enjoy most.
Taking the four dimensions of your personal energy, try these practices to help renew your ‘energy bank’.
PHYSICAL ENERGY
Enhance your sleep with earlier bedtimes and reduced alcohol.
Reduce stress by engaging in cardiovascular activity at least 3 times a week and strength training at least once a week.
Eat small meals every three hours.
EMOTIONAL ENERGY
Defuse negative emotions- irritability, impatience, anxiety, etc.- through deep abdominal breathing.
Fuel positive emotions in yourself and others by regularly expressing appreciation to people.
Look at upsetting situations through new lenses. Adopt a reverse lens to ask, ‘what would the other person in this conflict say and how might they be right?’. Use a long lens to ask, ‘how will I view this situation in six months?’. Employ a wide lens to ask, ‘how can I grow and learn from this experience?’.
MENTAL ENERGY
Reduce interruptions by performing high concentration tasks away from phones and e mail.
Respond to correspondence (in whatever format) at designated times of the day. Apply this to social media, also.
SPIRITUAL ENERGY
Select the most important challenge for the next day the night before.
Identify your ‘sweet spot’ activities- those that make you feel effective and provide fulfillment.
Allocate time and energy to what you feel is most important.
Live your core values.