Energy Management is Time Management
You are reading this probably because you have been told to manage your time (instead of managing your energy) by your managers or you read it somewhere else about how successful managers are experts in time management. Well, there is more to that than simply managing one’s time. How good are you at energy management holds the key to your success.
1. Weed out the one-size-fits-all advice(s)
One of the most often heard advice is about not reaching your phone to check emails or go through social media feed early in the morning. But what if you are a sales representative or a social media manager? Will it be okay if you make your customers wait? The problem lies in the advice pieces which is often coming from C-suite level people who are mostly in control of their time and have teams whom they can delegate their work. So, before you start acting on the advice please ask yourself how much the person’s job profile is similar to yours?
Point to note: People who are good at managing their time start their day with the most crucial task(s) and it could be anything.
2. Build your own framework
Not everyone is a morning person. Not everyone is an extrovert. Everyone has their own quirks and way of doing things. But unfortunately, most of us are often expected to work in a certain way and follow the rules of the masses. You are the best judge when it comes to deciding your day and productivity. If you know for sure you are more active during the later part of the day, you can allot important work towards the latter part of the day. Reserve the first half for less impactful work like meeting people, checking updates on email, follow up calls, etc.
3. Manage expectations
Colleagues and managers are often weighing you down with unrealistic and unprofessional expectations. You can talk to your peers and managers about your work style, and they should be okay with it. If not, you can discuss specific issues with each disagreeing party separately and find a middle ground. Also, be aware of energy vampires who are on the prowl to find their next victim. These people have nothing constructive to do and will drag others down with them in the world of universal pessimism and self-doubt. Watch out for these kinds of people and limit your exposure at any cost.
Now your manager might say — “But we also need you to coordinate for the upcoming company anniversary trip.” You can tell them you can’t multitask on both, the task at hand (the work you get paid for) and coordinating for the company trip (the work you won’t be remembered for, ever!). Of course, unless you are in the HR department.
People’s expectations have a big say on your work routine. So set clear and transparent expectations to manage your work efficiently.
Point to note: Organizations and senior management tend to respect employee time more when they are working on client projects Vs the employee who is only responsible for internal work.
4. Limit personal social media exposure
There is a reason why the bell icon is almost omnipresent in all the social media platforms. The software engineers and psychologists working at some of the most powerful social media companies have designed and perfected the user interface of these platforms after investing countless hours of research and studying human behavior. They are after the most precious item in the world — your attention! Whenever you click on that notification icon, there is a shot of endorphin that relays through your nervous system. It makes you feel better at the cost of your brain’s stimulus center. Now there is only a limited number of times you can stimulate your brain in a day before it starts experiencing fatigue. So, if you are not careful in managing your social media consumption, you risk spending your precious energy (stimulus) on scrolling down the useless infinite feed. How often do you tell yourself that it is just a small break and end up wasting hours scrolling up and down?
Exercise: Make a list of all the social media platforms and silent all forms of notifications. You might be surprised that your frequent trips to the social media-verse are reduced significantly in the absence of ever-distracting notifications.
5. Bring variety to your work
The fastest way to experience burn out at work is to keep doing the same type of work again and again. If you are in a customer success role — don’t be just engrossed in emailing, talking, and chatting with your clients. You may enjoy it but the boredom can sneak up on you and will start killing your productivity. Always distract yourself with different types of work. So, instead of spending another hour emailing your clients, work on a performance report which involves some number crunching and doing work in solo mode.
6. Avoid Sugar
Our body is not built to run on processed sugar. We, humans, have evolved to fulfill our sugar requirements through carbohydrate and complex sugars found naturally in fruits and vegetables. The spike in blood sugar after consuming a sweet vs after consuming fruit in its raw form is drastically different. Your body kind of goes through a rollercoaster ride when riding on a sugar-laden food. Of course, the sugar rush comes with its own exhilarating experience but when the downward curve kicks in (and it happens rapidly) it crashes your body’s operating system along with it. It starts with distracting thoughts, urges to slouch down, mindless gazing around, and eventually, want to go to sleep.
Point to note: Office parties and sugar are inseparable. Be aware of what you will be doing after the party is over. If it is going back to your workstation to complete that crucial report you better say no to that second donut.
7. Take care of your circadian rhythm
We all have heard about sleeping early to rise up early advice. You must have also heard about the afternoon power nap advice. But is it true for everyone, who knows? Is a 10-minute power nap better than 20 mins of napping? Is sleeping 8 hours is good or more the better? You see everyone is wired in a different way, so you need to figure it out yourself. Again don’t fall for the regular mass-market advice, be your own judge because no one else can be.
Point to note: If you ignore your rising sleep debt (yes, it is a real thing) you are going to hit the mental exhaustion button very soon and quite often. Come what may don’t compromise with your unique sleeping hours and pattern.
The next time you feel guilty about wasting your time, take a closer look at what you did to waste your energy. Hopefully, you will be more clear about the energy management strategy you want to employ.
This was originally published on www.speaktory.com
