Forget About Time Management, Focus on Energy Management Instead
It has nothing to do with a morning person
Our brainpower is limited. It swamps by the time you go to sleep.
There is an illusion when we say we can work on maximum capacity all day long. That’s impractical.
We are not computers with a constant source of power. We are creatures who need to recharge whenever we feel low on energy. That’s why we have energy drinks ( the unhealthy option ), and for the same reason we have healthy foods, it’s your choice!
There is a strong reason why energy management plays a vital role if you want to perfect your time management skills. Here is how to maximise your brain’s efficiency from the moment you wake up:
Sleep pattern matters
As long as you don’t have a consistent sleep pattern, you won’t have a regular circadian rhythm.
Circadian rhythm is the body’s natural clock that repeats every 24 hours depending on its exposure to light. And if you want to make sure it is coherent every day, you need to have a consistent sleep pattern.
It took around two months for me to shift from night-owl to a morning person. It is the best lifestyle change I’ve ever done. If your professional life allows it, you can try giving it a shot. Yes, work-life balance takes time because drilling down your priorities is not so simple. You have to consider the importance and urgency factor both.
Your brain is active all day.
Here is the fact about the brain: it is working all the time except the recovery phase in sleep.
The brain is most creative after you wake up because you just came from the dreamy phase of sleep. After freshening up with some healthy food, you are ready to rock the to-do list ( if you have one, otherwise your boss will give you anyway ) for the day.
If you are trying to develop a skill or you want to get better at some habit of yours, now ( the moment after you wake up ) is the best time to practice.
I developed my writing habit by writing at 7 AM every day. Before I reached the current stage where I can write any time of the day now, I wanted to use the morning time as the time to finish the most crucial task of the day.
It gives you a sense of accomplishment, your brain smiles and your self-confidence improves to handle the job again the next day with novel challenges and recharged creativity.
Morning or evening person doesn’t matter.
I am a morning person, but I have seen some night owls too who are crushing in their daily schedule. As long as you have a regular sleep schedule, it doesn’t matter if you are an early bird or night owl.
Even during my college days, I was a night-rider and used to daydream in lectures, once I even slept in an exam. That’s how I got my first F grade, LOL! It is a sudden realisation, I remember now! At that time, it didn’t sound funny, now I think of it? Bwahaha
Final words
Whether you recognise it or not, your brain is responding to all the external stimuli throughout the day. Actively or passively, your senses are at work.
Be it noise, things you see frequently, the food you eat, the clothes you chose to wear, people you talk, incessant social media, etc. Decision-making involves brainpower.
The simplest thing you can do to win your time management game is to have challenging but achievable priorities. Sort them by difficulty level, with the most difficult one being the first to attempt. Why? Because decision-making power starts depleting since the moment you wake up and you need to clear the priority list from top-down. That's why we call it a priority list, hello!
This blog belongs to a series of posts I am publishing in this 100-days streak. Today is day 94. Navigate to the end of article 22, for the references from day 23 onwards. If you would like to read the ones before day 22, here is the first one that documents them in the end.
~ Sanjeev
