Growing up we were encouraged to learn how to manage our time. Many of us were told that time management was the key to successful careers, personal lives, and finding the balance between the two. A cursory search online of time management brings you to a world of articles, blog posts, and books on time management including time management tricks of highly successful people and how to manage your time better. Time management is a hot topic, but what if I told you time management was being replaced?
Recently, energy management has been gaining momentum as an alternative to time management. Supporters argue that the benefits of time management are limited since it relies on a finite resource, time. Energy management, on the other hand, is a renewable productivity resource. The Oxford dictionary defines energy as “the strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity.” Tony Schwartz, the creator of The Energy Project, suggests that energy in human beings come from four main sources: the body, emotions, mind, and spirit. An article from the Harvard Business Review argues that each of these sources can be expanded and renewed by integrating specific rituals and behaviors into the day. Examples of rituals and behaviors include taking walking breaks throughout the day, adapting your diet, practicing breathing exercises, and taking time to thank colleagues for their contributions. Ultimately, the goal is to make these behaviors automatic, so we do them without thinking about them.
The same Harvard Business Review article also discusses the results of multiple experiments to build and sustain energy in employees at Fortune 500 companies. One of the experiments took place at Wachovia Bank (later acquired by Wells Fargo). Among the 106 employees that participated in a training program on specific strategies for strengthening one of the four sources of energy, 68% reported a positive impact on their relationships with clients and 71% reported a noticeable positive impact on their performance and productivity. The employees that were exposed to the training program outperformed their fellow colleagues in the control group (who did not go through the training) for a full year. The article includes a useful brief questionnaire that aims to answer the question – Are you headed for an energy crisis? The questionnaire helps evaluate which of the four energy sources you may need to work on, or you may be like us and discover you could use some improvement in all four!
There are a number of helpful resources that discuss various aspects of energy management. An article from Forbes provides six strategies for gaining more energy including – 1) get enough sleep, 2) maintain an exercise routine, 3) turn off your smartphone, 4) set ambitious but realistic goals, 5) figure out activities that energize you, 6) arrange your schedule to better suit your energy levels. In an article by Thomas Oppong, he discusses how we can manage our energy, time and attention to enhance performance by allowing sufficient time for rest, separating urgent tasks from important tasks, and reducing distractions. Finally, the article mentioned above that classifies energy as a renewable productivity resource suggests two cardinal rules for energy management – 1) “to manage energy, you have to have energy to manage,” and 2) “you can’t draw down on your energy indefinitely without replenishing.”
Another important topic related to energy management is mindfulness. Mindfulness is defined as a “state of active, open attention on the present.” By focusing on the present, you are not draining your energy by re-playing the past or worrying about the future. There are several mobile apps available to help people manage their energy and improve mindfulness. The Headspace app teaches users meditation skills and guides them through different meditation courses. The Calm app won App of the Year in 2017 and while this app teaches meditation and mindfulness it also comes with sleep stories to help users rest and fall asleep.
Knowing there are so many recommendations and resources out there to help manage each person’s energy levels, writing this article certainly has caused us to re-evaluate how we are spending our energy currently. How are you managing your energy? Is there a chance you could be headed for an energy crisis?
Catherine Gupta
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Alexa Ortiz