Work pressure is rising. Never before in history have we been more overloaded by impulses like email, text-messages, social media and marketing. Demands pile up: the more we get done, the more responsibilities we get. Stress is increasing. And even then, we push on and try to get more stuff done. What’s our answer? We focus on how to get more done in less time, machine-like and efficient. We steal from our sleep, family time, spare time and health. But managing time is not the only key to success. You can manage your time perfectly, but without having the energy to perform, how effective are you truly? Time isn’t the only thing you should manage, if you want to be productive. Instead, a much more critical resource is energy. Without managing your energy, no matter how well you manage your time, you’re not being effective in getting things done.
The Answer – Managing Your Energy
Energy is like fuel in a car or the battery in your mobile phone. Without it, you won’t operate as effective as you’d like to. So the first step in becoming more productive is to manage your energy. Unlike machines that can go on 24/7, we humans need to recharge our energy supplies. Failing to do so leads to symptoms like burnouts. Which is the ultimate sign of the body trying to tell you that you should take some rest.
Energy is the capacity for being productive. Without it, you can’t perform. When you walk, you need energy; talking requires energy; for thinking you need energy – Everything you do requires energy. If you want to be more productive or want to perform at your best, you need to be at your best. A professional athlete needs to be physically in his/her best shape of fitness and vitality in order to perform at his/her peak. A flight controller needs to be mentally well-rested to guide all the airplanes to land safely. A therapist must be emotionally balanced to truly help a client. Whatever it is that you do: to perform at your best, you need to have the energy to do so.
Gain Insight In Your Energy Level
If you want to increase your productivity or performance, the first step is to gain insight in your energy level. You can discover what your energy level is by taking the energy survey here. When you have the insight in your own energy level, you’ll also discover what areas improved upon will make the biggest impact on your energy.
In my book ProductiviChi you can read how you can optimally charge your energy by following a concept that I created (based on the circadian and ultradian rhythm’s, which are biological processes in the human body), called the “4 seasons of energy.” You’ll also learn about the 3 sources of energy that you have, and how to manage each of them. Applying the principle of the 4 seasons of energy on these 3 sources allows you to optimise your energy for high productivity and performance.
