“You live a life of the mind.” When my father said that to me, I don’t think he meant I’m a genius in hiding. It might have been more like a way to note that I spend a lot of time daydreaming and talking.
In order to have any shot at being successful (by which I mean, have a roof over my head) I needed a lot of help figuring out how to get things done. Time management, to me, is the art of figuring out how to actually do the things you want to do.
That’s where energy comes in. I first really took a look at the synergy between time and energy when I read Julie Morgenstern’s Time Management from the Inside Out.
Think about yourself. Are you a morning person? Or do you have the most energy at night? Do you prefer tackling a large project obsessively or are you happiest doing small chunks? When is it easiest for you to do things you aren’t drawn to but want to do?
I’m a morning woman. I can do almost anything in the early morning. After dinner? I’m pretty much toast. I get distracted, wander around the house, and forget what I needed to do. I have to tie a string between my wrist and my plan to have any hope of getting things done at the end of the day.
I’m an obsessor. If I can sit down and work on one thing until my fingers fall off and I’ve dehydrated into dust and string, I’m in. It takes a ton of energy for me to switch tasks. Good to know, since my workday is non-stop interruption.
Different activities impact energy also. Doing creative work gets me energized. Crossing off a lot of fast, small tasks that have meaning gets me feeling strong.
Falling behind on my schedule or feeling rushed? Sends me right down the tubes. I’ll be looking for candy and dog videos if I’m not careful.
What about you? Think about the things you do that give you joy, make you feel strong and successful, get you excited. Then think about what drags you down. Now, how can you use this information to help you manage your time?
Speaking as a daydreamer extraordinaire, I can attest to the fact you’ll need to work this out on paper. Working out how to merge time and energy in your mind? Will not get you there.
Start by figuring out what types of things you want to do. Exercise? Work on projects? Clean the house? Clear out emails? Take meetings? Make phone calls? Relax?
Now, figure out how to combine them into time slots so that you can use energy in your favor.
For me, exercise is a first thing in the morning activity. One, because it takes very little energy to get me to exercise in the morning but at the end of the day I need a boatload of will power to do it. The added side benefit is that I’m bouncing with enthusiasm after I’m done, which sends me into the office ready to slay my day.
Responding to emails plays into my preference for obsessing on one activity and my love of little tasks in rapid succession. So I need to create ways to stop myself and pull my head out of my inbox. Not easy. What do you think I should do?
How about putting a task I love, like a creative project, on my calendar after my dedicated email time to help me stop?
Actually, doing email at the end of the day is optimal for me. First, it stops me from getting to things before my team can do them, and since it plays into my natural endurance, I can do it even when my energy is low.
So for me, checking email on my phone before I go to work, to make sure I catch the urgent issues, and then avoiding it like the plague until the afternoon is a recipe for productivity.
You can also consider combining sound, color or motion to add energy. If I listen to rock music before or during a difficult task, it feels easier. Using a standing desk and headphones keeps me upbeat. Color pencils? You bet. All of that makes things like budgeting way more appealing.
To apply this process follow these steps:
- Draw out a chart – seven days across the top, twenty-four hours down the side.
- Block out 8 hours a day for sleep. Non-negotiable. Have you seen the research on sleep?
- Fit the types of tasks you need to do into the chart – it’s sort of a brain teaser – so be prepared to think.
- As you fit things in ask yourself these questions?
- Will I have the energy for this at this time?
- What do I need to after this or before it to keep myself on track?
- If I don’t normally have the energy but I need to fit it in, what can I do before or during to get myself the energy?
In my program – Reboot Your Day Job – I personally walk you through this process so you can get a happy, healthy grip on getting stuff done. Even if you do prefer to daydream.
And that? Is my pleasure.
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