If You Are Not Managing Your Personal Energy, You Are Under-Performing

If you are anything like me, you probably have couple of check lists (one in hard copy and at least one on computer or your smart phone), calendar and detailed schedule you are religiously updating. You might also be overly enthusiastic about how much you can achieve during the day (that 24-hour limit is really messing with my plans).

In spite of minute-precise planning, there are (almost) always tasks that I have to leave for tomorrow. But, what if the answer to our problem is not time management but energy management?

According to Tony Schwartz, fonder and CEO of The Energy Project, time is a finite category and as such can be managed only to a certain extent. As opposed to that, our energy levels are renewable and can be influenced.

Maybe he is on the right track.

There have been many times when I felt like I was functioning on willpower alone – being stubborn in my desire to get things done only to crash after task completion.

With time, it made me realize that the pressure we put ourselves under by focusing on chasing minutes, multitasking and working longer hours without break may help us achieve more short-term. Long-term, this behavior will lead to lack of engagement, lack of focus and deteriorating health.

Instead, we should aim to increase our productivity by understanding our daily energy cycles and expanding our capacity. Same as with every athlete, we need to alternate periods of training and recovery. Without recovery, it is not possible to sustain high levels of productivity long-term.

Understanding our daily energy cycles

Research by Peretz Lavie showed that our energy levels function according to “ultradian rhythms” with high-energy and low-energy cycles that alternate during the day.

Same as during the night, when we go through alternating cycles of deep sleep and dream sleep, we also experience peaks of energy (moments when we are alert and excited) interspersed with troughs of low energy (when we feel tired and groggy) throughout the day.

Using this concept we can monitor our energy levels and modify our behavior accordingly. Just as we have to take advantage of our periods of high energy by concentrating on one task at the time and minimizing distractions, it is vital to rest and recharge when our energy levels are down. Otherwise, our energy levels will just keep going down until our performance hits rock bottom – which happens much sooner than we think.

Following the same principle, top-tier violinists practice in 90 minute sessions followed by 20 to 30 minute breaks and not more than four and a half hours a day. Similarly, for professional athletes, the amount of deliberate practice is not limited by available time – they choose to spend their free time on recuperation and relaxing activities.

Studies show that elite performers try to maximize their effectiveness by doing certain activities at certain times of day. While scientists and authors use mornings for demanding writing, athletes prefer afternoon for their most demanding practice sessions.

This is not surprising. Studies also show that simple perceptual motor performance is enhanced in the afternoon compared to intellectually demanding activities that are enhanced in the morning.

Managing our capacity

With time we can learn not only how to keep our energy levels high during the day, but also how to progressively increase our general capacity – same as a runner trying to achieve better results.

According to Schwartz, our personal energy has four dimensions: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.

By focusing on each of the dimensions we can try to identify what leads to their depletion and what renews them:

1) Physical energy is the basis for all tasks that require being awake and alert for longer periods of time. It depends on the amount of sleep we get, nutrition and physical exercise.

Inadequate nutrition and rest have been known to negatively impact the way we deal with stress, the way we make decisions and our ability to focus on task at hand.

2) Emotional energy is crucial for the way we deal with stressful situations.

While it can be difficult to maintain positive outlook all day long considering the obstacles, distractions and difficulties we encounter, negative emotions – depressive thoughts, nervousness, impatience, anxiousness – obstruct personal and organizational productivity.

We restore our emotional energy when we socialize with people we care about, when we show and receive appreciation for a work well done, and when we try to look at stressful occurrences from another, more positive, perspective.

3) Mental energy is responsible for our ability to maintain high level of focus for a long period of time, think rationally and make decisions.

Most common deflators of our mental energy today are distractions that come from technology or coworkers. Same goes for our multitasking efforts, which are connected with decreased efficiency and increased number of errors.

To prevent depletion, we should prioritize our most important tasks and make time for them when we know we won’t be interrupted.

4) Spiritual energy is fueled by our sense of meaning and purpose.

There is a saying that if you love what do you do, you won’t have to work for a day in your life. And that is true. Our sense of purpose and belief in the value of what we are doing can keep us going longer that any energy drink.

Our spiritual energy is renewed when we do things that give us feelings of effectiveness, meaning and fulfillment.

We should all try to identify what we do best and enjoy most, allocate our time and energy to the area of our lives that we deem most important, and incorporate our core values into our everyday behavior.

The key to achieving higher levels of performance is to identify behavioral habits that are depleting our energy levels and replace them with those that expand and renew it.

What are your tips for achieving more during the day? Do you work without pause or take occasional breaks? How do you recharge?