Manage Your Energy versus Time Management

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Ever thought of changing your focus from managing time to managing energy? Here’s the good news if you dare to go there.

Forget time, it’s all about energy! In our increasingly fast-paced and pressured lives, we crave more time and energy, making them both among the most in-demand commodities of the 21st century. We are all familiar with the clever concepts of buying time; but can we actually buy energy? The answer is, of course, ‘no’ though we do note society’s attempts in the purchasing of energy drinks, energy bars, or our embracing
of the notion to increase energy through meditation, yoga or exercise. However, this is clearly not sustaining enough, as most people are still craving energy despite these hard-earned efforts to increase it. Why is this so? If we understand that time is outside of ourselves and energy is within us all, we begin to understand that energy is actually our currency for living and being. After all, without energy we can’t perform or do anything really, even if we do buy time.

As philosophical as it may sound, this realisation is very practical and has huge implications in the way we use and value our number one inner resource – our energy – whether it is for training, work, relationships or just living your life. The old paradigm for getting things done emphasised ‘time management’; however, the Human Potential movement sweeping across the planet and particularly across corporate America (so much so that it now underpins leadership training programs for Google staff) takes as its basic template for living life, the need to balance your energy. And so, the new paradigm is all about energy and how we use it and, most importantly, how we renew it.

Have you ever questioned why you might not get the results you would expect, even though you have put time and effort into your endeavours?

It’s very likely that you are not effectively managing your key resource – your energy – on physical, mental, emotional and spiritual (electromagnetic) levels.

The key to sustaining high performance in any area of life is to make the experience engaging and enjoyable, so it can be recreated again and again without us becoming ‘burnt out’. While our customary busyness may have the appeal of suggesting high productivity or being successful and in-demand, it can also mean avoidance and significant energy drain.

And so, the key to being fully engaged and productive in life is to utilise the four key sources of energy – physical, emotional, mental and spiritual – in the most engaging and appropriately balanced way, so as to ensure things are completed more efficiently and with greater enjoyment.

Let’s remember, energy is within us and time is outside of us; so it makes sense to focus on managing energy, as we have direct access to it. It is this multidimensional energy combined in its most balanced and fully engaged state that ensures we feel truly alive, healthy and content.

If we remind ourselves, that energy is our capacity to do work and to perform, how can we maximise our performance and enjoyment in life?
The answer lies in the renewal of the four key sources of energy.

Renewal of your energy is the most important concept to put into practice. Balancing energy is not so much about endurance but, rather, disengaging for short bursts of rest and recovery from everything.

It’s easy to grasp this idea when we see life as a series of sprints instead of a marathon to get somewhere.
So how can we put this idea into practice? By introducing daily rituals or activities in the right amounts; by finding time for rest, relaxation, fun and play, emotional connectedness, mental relaxation and spiritual alignment daily and all in short bursts.

1. Physical energy

We can achieve this through:  Quality and quantity of sleep Appropriate nutrition to ensure balanced blood sugar levels thought the day. It isn’t possible to be productive and perform well with low blood sugar. It is also impossible to even think with very low blood sugar levels as it literally leaves you feeling ‘brain-dead’. Appropriate nutrition refers to managing your insulin spikes and choosing fresh, enzyme-rich foods as the best fuel for your physical body (your engine).

The right exercise (this does not mean excessive cardio!). In fact, short, intense exercise if far more beneficial and achievable.
Short bursts of rest in between rushing around or performing endless tasks around the house or work is also far more productive. Think of yourself as a ‘corporate athlete’ where you sprint and recover instead of working all day long without regular breaks. Power rests can be anywhere from one to five minutes, provided you totally disengage from your activity.

2. Emotional energy (emotional connection)

In order to perform at our best, we need to access our positive and uplifting emotions such as enjoyment, adventure, opportunity, challenge and inspiration. Appreciating others and, in turn, feeling appreciated is the key here.
When we dwell on negative emotions, such as hostility, resentment or anxiety, the quality of our energy is hugely diminished. Over time, running on negative emotional energy at work or in any other area of life is a huge energy drain, which leads to chronic tiredness, perhaps even Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

This is because emotions that arise out of fear or deficit or which threaten our survival in any way, produce an extremely toxic effect by stimulating the adrenal glands to release cortisol (the stress hormone). In small amounts, cortisol is beneficial but when it pumps into the bloodstream for too long, it leaves a trail of destruction and eats away at muscle tissue.

3. Mental energy (mental focus)

Any way of quietening the mind and its constant chitchat, such as ‘effortless’ meditation technique or activities that focus on the breath like Qi Gong, allows us to renew our mental energy. Renewing our mental energy makes us far more intelligent and productive in the long run.

To perform at our best, we also need to sustain concentration and be flexible in our thinking, with appropriate focus and realistic optimism. Regularly engaging in creative visualisations enhances the mental flow of energy.

Mental capacity is also derived from expending and renewing energy. In practical terms, if we spend too much time in overthinking, over-analysing or focusing heavily on practical outcomes, we are not allowing for creative possibilities and new ways of thinking or experiencing to occur. And, of course, if we adopt this approach habitually, it can lead to boredom, which can create a very destructive outcome.

4. Spiritual energy (knowing your purpose/path)

Spiritual energy aligns our actions, motivations and ambitions and as a result we feel more alive, engaged, connected and able to judge our next step more clearly. At this level, we are also able to access and use our innate gifts and talents creating an awesome sense of having ‘energy on tap’.

Just as nature has its own natural pulses and rhythms, such as the daily rising and setting of the sun, we also experience wave-like movements between activity and rest. Daily rest and renewal is the key to balancing all four sources of energy. If we can achieve a balance of being physically energised, emotionally connected, mentally focused and spiritually aligned, we are well on the way to optimal health and inner happiness.

5 Practical ways to boost your energy

1. Make sleep a priority. A lack of sleep is non-negotiable because the energy drain is huge.

2. Increase more raw foods into your diet. They are rich in natural enzymes (the sparks of life) and simultaneously counteract the chemicals and toxins in everyday products.

3. Stop doing too much in one day. This sort of stressful workload is not okay. Say ‘no’ more often; it’s for the sake of your health afterall.

4. Stop physically overtraining. Running for more than 15 minutes at a time or treadmills at the gym will force your body to release a lot of stress hormones, and unless you rest, recuperate and recover quickly the body goes into deficit and so too are your energy levels.  Exercise is great in short bursts, yet too much with little rest in between, activates powerful stress hormones that can actually break down muscle tissue. This might look like someone has lost weight yet all they have lost is lean muscle mass, which changes the percentage of body fat composition creating ‘fat factories even in thin people.

5. Be mindful of the negative chit-chat and self-talk that goes on in your own brain. Seek some biofeedback/neurological balancing to minimise their impact working with a coach on releasing the thoughts that make you grind your teeth at nigh or tighten your jaw during the day?

 
In Wellness!
Teya Skae      

References: The Power of Full Engagement Tony Schwartz and Jim Loehr, The Free Press New York, 2003.