Time vs. Energy Management
Rethinking My Productivity Model for the New Year
Time management is traditionally the foundation of productivity. Methods like Time Blocking and The Pomodoro Technique layout times for when we should complete certain tasks. It allows me to roadmap dozens of things I want to do each day. And is how I’ve approached productivity. The more items I can check off, the more productive I associate with that day.
If the game is to do the most amount of things per day, then the wake-up-and-grind mentality is certain to become unsustainable. Remember freshman year of college when you had to choose either good grades, a social life, or sleep, but never all three? Well, I’d like to think you can have all 3 — all the time. This resurfaced again in my late 20s when the 3 things were a job, business school, and a boyfriend.
What happened? Well, let’s just say I’ve had my own share of experiencing burnout. Harvard Business Review mentions “time management skills [are] among the most desired workforce skills, but at the same time among the rarest skills to find.”¹
So how do we become better time managers? A valuable characteristic not only in the workplace but also in our personal lives. As I step into the new year and a new decade that is my 30s, I am going to try adopting a new method of productivity by applying James Clear’s Step 1 of his Simple Ways to Be More Productive Every Day²: manage your energy, not your time.
Here, energy is not the type that’s associated with caffeine and feeling wired. Energy is the ability to be present and grounded. When you are able to focus on what you are doing, and therefore, your attention is less divided.
If we can do more of the work that energizes us at certain times, magic will happen. We enter that coveted state of flow.
In this post, I layout in the following:
- What is the difference between managing Time vs. Energy?
- What is an Energy Audit?
- How to use the Energy Audit to become your best productive self?
“If you’re trying to be more productive, don’t analyze how you spend your time. Pay attention to what consumes your attention.” — Adam Grant³
Managing Time vs. Energy
Time is constrictive because there are set times to do set things. Energy is flexible because there is an element of choice to do certain tasks at certain times.
Time is finite and out of your control. Energy is renewable and in your control.
Time is stopping all distractions and about what you’re doing. Energy is being mindful of distractions and when you are going to do something.
The best use of our time is on what we can control (energy) versus what we can’t (time).
Energy Audit
The purpose of an energy audit is to identify what activities give us energy and what drains it. We can use it to understand how our energy levels fluctuate and the seasonality of our life. Thereby, we can actively choose what to focus on and when to do it. And ultimately, how to replenish our energy to take better care of ourselves.
A couple of exercises to try are either a) graph or b) scorecard. These can be a great, quick journal prompt to do each night.
A. Over time, make a graph where the horizontal axis is Time (wake to sleep), and the vertical axis is Energy (low to high).
The reason why you’d want to draw it each day is that every day can look different depending on the day of the week (weekday vs. weekend) or where you are seasonally in your life (new job, health issue).
The expectation is that the graph shows a straight line, and any time we dip below that line, we become hard on ourselves. In reality, it fluctuates.
B. Over time, create a scorecard for each day by making a list of your daily habits and include every little thing from making your bed to writing up meeting minutes to walking your dog at night.
At the end of the day, give each activity a rating of + positive, - negative, or = neutral.
An energy audit reveals simply what is going on. It is not about changing anything yet because the process of behavior change always starts with awareness.
Applying the Energy Audit
The Energy Audit pinpoints activities that can naturally garner highs and lows in your day. You have to know what these things are before you can choose what activities serve you best.
When we realize we have choices, there is a part of our brain that lights up called the striatum⁴. When we feel like we have choices and control, we tend to work harder, push ourselves more, feel more confident, and overcome setbacks faster. Believing you have control versus external factors is the difference between managing energy and time.
Productivity is the result of prioritizing more activities that are important to you (the highs). If we apply the 80/20 rule to the 24 hours we have each day, accounting for 8 hours of rest, that’s 16 hours x 20% = 3 hours. What will you prioritize for those 3 hours? Where are those 3 hours the most impactful?
I especially like the energy audit graph because it will show you the peaks and valleys. Reflect on why dips are there and look for patterns where your energy is drained. See if there’s a way you can take better care of yourself during those times so that the lows don’t stay as long.
That’s where it’s helpful to have a self-care toolkit, a list of activities that can trigger peaks. It can be exercise, calling a friend or listening to music.
I think a better way to define a productive day is when you can complete the 3 most important things and 1 act of self-care. It’s better to do a single thing well than multiple little things mediocrely. Because if your heart wasn’t there, you probably weren’t retaining information anyway or performing on autopilot without purposeful engagement.
