6 Tips to Recharge your Batteries

When it comes to productivity, time (and the lack thereof) is rarely the issue we think that it is. We seemingly have little difficulty in finding the time for the things that we truly 'want' to do, rather than those we feel that we need or must do.  Just think about how up-to-date most people are with what's happening in their favourite television shows.

It is therefore less a question of what we have time for and more about what we have the energy for. When our energy is high we are far more likely to tackle the difficult tasks than we are when our energy is flagging.  Therefore, the better we become at managing our energy, the better able we will be able to effectively manage our growing workload and produce the desired results.

The challenge we actually face then is that few of us are truly effective in managing our energy.  We typically don't consciously know how to recharge our personal batteries and we do not go out of our way to build and schedule energy recovery and renewal systems.  Most of us are therefore attempting to get critical work accomplished when our batteries are depleted.  We can't possibly do our best work in these moments, yet we have somehow developed the belief that we need to push through these moments rather than taking a break and gifting ourselves with some recovery time.

Science tells us quite clearly that our brains and our bodies require breaks, short periods of recovery, in order to function optimally.  Without these moments to recharge our batteries we are not capable of the same clarity of thought and productivity as when we are attacking a problem when fully charged.

In a recent Gallup poll, it was determined that only 13% of employees reported feeling engaged while at work and a further study of 10,000 people found that only 11% reported having a great deal of energy throughout the day.  These are not unrelated findings.  There is a strong correlation between our energy levels and our engagement.  The more we learn to manage and control the former, the more we will find ourselves able to experience deeper and more sustained levels of the latter.

Just how can we begin managing our Energy more effectively?  Consider any of the following tips to help you to become more adept in recharging your batteries and managing your energy...

Sleep

Most tend to focus on the quantity of sleep required for renewal.  Athletes tend to average 8.5 hours of sleep a night in order to ensure their performance, whereas most of us regular folk tend to be averaging roughly 6 hours.  Hardly enough time to get those batteries fully charged.  What is perhaps even more important to consider is the quality of sleep that we are engaging in, for however many hours we manage.  Few of us are enjoying restful sleep periods.  To help with this consider changing out your mattress (upgrades are needed periodically), a better pillow, fresh air, earplugs or noise cancelling devices.  Getting more and better sleep is seen by most experts to be the number one most important thing that we could and should be doing to enhance our focus, maximize our energy and optimize our performance.

Connect

Engaging with others can also help us to recharge our batteries.  Certainly avoid the energy vampires, but spending time with others can be a welcome distraction that can revitalize you.

Exercise

Engaging in exercise can provide you with a positive mood boost.  Research indicates that the mood boost can last upward of 12 hours following a period of exercise which is one reason why many recommend exercising first thing in the morning.  In addition to the positive health and fitness benefits of exercise, it is also important for enhancing the overall functioning of our minds and bodies, allowing us more sustained productivity.

Unique Abilities

We get recharged when we engage in activities that utilize our unique talents and strengths. We can take advantage of this by deliberately scheduling activities we enjoy directly following those that we don't, in an effort to provide a boost to our flagging energy.

Breaks

The top 10% of performers will typically work for an average of 52 minutes at a time and then take a break of about 15 minutes.  This on/off rotation is key to ensuring your sustained energy and focus over the course of a full day.  The timing of your on/off cycle may vary from this, but it is important to build in short periods of recovery throughout your day.  You typically know what activities and people cost you energy, enabling you to plan your day around these events.  You want to go into these situations as fully charged as possible and to allow time to recharge immediately following.  Even quick five minute breaks can make a world of difference in your focus and energy levels.

  

It's a Matter of Moments

Our lives are a series of Moments strung together like one bead following another on a cord.  Most
moments in our lives don't stand out and remain indistinguishable from those that preceded it, or even from those that follow.

There are 'those' moments we experience though, that are memorable.  Moments that stand out in our minds, our memories and our hearts.  When we string these moments together, the moments that 'matter', we begin to shape and define our lives.  These are the moments that give meaning to the life we are living and that influence the choices we will make for the life we will live in the future.  Our perspective on what matters therefore, is critical in giving definition to how we view our lives and how we continue to live them.

As much as we typically assume that our memory is nothing but a direct recall of events as they were, it is important to recognise that our memory is driven by our choices.  Our memory of an event is shaped by 'How' we choose to remember an event and even by 'What' we choose to remember about it.  Our interpretation of an event then serves to influence the way we view it and, ultimately, how we remember it...

• as good or bad
• in joy or sorrow
• in pride or shame
• as loss or gain
• in anger or forgiveness
• as experience or failure

It is our choice that shapes the moments we preserve and that, in turn, shape the story of our lives.

If you don't like the story you are telling then choose different moments.  Many of us have inadvertently allowed others to select our moments for us, giving a shape to our stories that doesn't serve us and that we do not want to be defined by.  If so, then it is time to invest in ourselves and spend the time in redefining our lives, by restringing our moments.

Take mental scissors to your string of moments, cutting away those moments that don't serve the 'you' that you know yourself to be, the you that you want to be.  Invest the time to recall moments that support this desired view, moments that are empowering, pride-filled and heart-felt.  Choose moments of joy and triumph, moments of love and giving, but also moments of challenge and adversity, sorrow and loss.  

We learn much about ourselves through how we are tested.  Choose moments in which you dealt with your loss, overcame adversity, pushed further that you thought possible or pulled yourself back up out of despair.  These too are moments to be remembered and treasured.  

String together moments that define the true you, your humour, your strength, your passion, your honour, your sensitivity, your courage, your vulnerability, your tenderness, your openness, your creativity, your curiosity, your weaknesses, your humanity.  String together moments that tell the story of you and wear these moments with pride.

Our lives are a series of moments, strung together.  Choose the moments that matter to you, to define a life that matters... to you.

Life-Hacking - Could Yours Use a Little?

Life-hacking.  This is a real term, a real phenomenon.  Popularized by Tim Ferriss, through his best-selling book The 4-Hour Work Week, life-hacking is helping people to redesign their lives, their work, their paths, their approaches.  According to Wikipedia, life-hacking ...

refers to any productivity trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method to increase productivity and efficiency, in all walks of life; in other words, anything that solves an everyday problem in a clever or non-obvious way might be called a life hack.

Take Alex Day for example.  This young UK singer/musician hacked the UK music industry such that, with no manager, no producer, no agent and no PR help... took his single to #4 on the UK charts on Christmas Day, their biggest day of the year.  Oh... and he did it in 8 weeks.  Unheard of perhaps, but he hacked the system.  He looked for alternatives to the 'typical' processes, worked around the 'way it works' established systems, found a couple of loopholes and...  made it happen.  (see his story here)

Consider musician Amanda Palmer.  In her Ted Talk, aptly named the Art of Asking (here's the link), Amanda describes how, after being dropped by her record producer (because her band didn't bring in enough sales and revenue), she put her album out for free and simply asked people to pay what they'd like for it.  She netted well over a million in sales.

Two recent examples that I have simply tripped over (I didn't even go looking) that both highlight individuals that were willing (and able) to think outside of the proverbial box and try a different approach.  They weren't constrained in their minds by 'how things work' because those systems clearly weren't going to work for them.  Rather than give up or move on or... even worse... conform, they invented a new process, one that would give them the results that they were after.

How might this work for you?

How many times have you limited or restricted yourself from going after something that you want because there weren't enough resources to make it happen?  Because you didn't have the time to invest?  Because you didn't have the skills?  Perhaps all of these would be true if you were following the 'tried and true' approach to the issue but... what it... you reinvented the approach so that you didn't need the money, the expertise, the knowledge the... whatever is holding you back?  You create the rules and... go for it!

Re-invent.  Re-design.  Re-craft.  Re-tool.

When it comes to your life don't hate it... hack it!  The possibilities just grew exponentially!


(and... if you haven't read this yet...  here's the link to go buy it.  Read it.  Learn from it.  Do it.)

Take a Mulligan!

You diligently set your New Year's Resolution(s).  It's a new year coming up and you have BIG plans.  But... as it seems to happen every year, life gets in the way, the plans seem a little too big, a little too much to plan into your day and you quickly spiral into a feeling of overwhelm.  The resolutions get shelved, you feel like a quitter and start wondering if the whole new year will treat you the same.  You start looking forward to next January when you feel you will have the opportunity to 'start fresh'!

Sound familiar?  I have been hearing some version of the above this week from clients who have found that the month has slipped by without them managing to push their resolutions ahead.  Their solution of course is to abandon them entirely.  Instead... take a Mulligan and start again.  In my world it's called a Do-Over!

What did you learn this month about the goals you set?  Were they too large and impractical right out of the gate?  Then make them smaller.  Smaller steps will lead to successes and move you forward.  It might take a little longer but it gets you there just the same.  Certainly if your current option is to abandon your goals until 'next year'... all those small steps taken cumulatively over the remaining year will have you significantly further ahead than simply abandoning the goal altogether.  Don't under-estimate the motivational power of even small steps forward.  As you begin to see progress you might just find bigger steps easier to take.  Often just starting is the hardest part.  If setting smaller goals up front gets you over the fear of starting something new then build that into the plan!

So.  It's a New Month.  Begin again.  Learn from last month and apply it to this month.  Try 'Different'.  If this plan isn't working for you then break it down smaller, take a Do-Over and begin again.  Don't wait for a New Year, a New Month, or even a New Week!

It's not quitting to start over.  But not beginning is.

Turning Energy Into Time

If you are anything like me, then you likely find yourself overloaded with more things to do in a day than can possibly be accomplished.  We use technology more to stay on top of things, and to keep in touch with everyone, than to free up our time.  We try to cram as much as possible into our workday, to be as productive as possible, in the vain hope that perhaps we won't have to work late or take work home to catch up.

Is it little wonder then that we are always on the search for the latest tool or tip that helps us manage our time more efficiently?  After all, that's the real issue, isn't it?  Not having enough of that precious commodity - time.  Or... is it?

Maybe, instead of continuing to work at managing our time and tasks more effectively, we need to reframe our thinking.  The issue with time is that it's finite.  No matter how you do the math, there are only 24 hours in a day.  Instead of learning to manage your time more efficiently you have to learn manage the Energy you bring to your tasks.

Much of the early research on energy management comes to us from the world of sports, but it is just as applicable to our day-to-day work lives.  Heck... to our lives in general!

As a professional athlete, it is essential to understand exactly what it takes to achieve consistent, peak performance.  Research has shown that though it is important to hone the technical skills each athlete brings to their respective sport, it is essential that they maximize the Energy output in order to increase performance.

We may not be operating our daily lives at the same physical level as professional athletes, but the machines we're using to accomplish our work (our bodies) are the same.  The challenge for us though, is that we are typically asked to 'perform' for 8 hours a day, a minimum of 5 days a week, without the benefit of the knowledge or training that athletes receive.

A key training method of elite athletes is known as Periodization, first introduced by the early Greeks.  Periodization is the concept of improving performance through balancing periods of activity with periods of rest.  Consider your typical work day though.  You likely...

• Wake up to an alarm clock blaring at you
• Race through your morning routine to get out the door as quickly as possible to beat the traffic
• Move from one task to another, one meeting to another, with no pause
• Take lunch at your desk so you can continue to work... you wouldn't want to 'waste' time!
• Race home, work tucked under your arm
• Fix dinner
• Spend time with the kids (that all-important 'quality' time!)
• Squeeze in a little more work
• Collapse in front of the television to 'vegetate'
• Drag yourself to bed so you can get up tomorrow to do it all again!

Where was the rest, the renewal, in your day?  Oh... right... it's called vacation and it doesn't come daily, it comes annually!  We live in a world where 'busyness' is worn like a badge of honour and where renewal and recovery get ignored.  However, our ability to be fully engaged at work, to be optimally productive, depends upon our ability to periodically 'disengage' successfully.

Building moments of recovery into your work day will enable you to engage in your tasks more fully and passionately.  Research has clearly shown that productivity increases when people build in periods of renewal into their work day.  Even though they are 'breaking' more, they get more done than those choosing to work 'flat out'.  Some of the most creative thinkers (such as daVinci and Einstein) were strong advocates of breaks, to allow their subconscious minds to work out the problem at hand.

I have clients that will not schedule any meeting exceeding 90 minutes in length, without scheduling a break, recognizing the link of our energy levels to our body's natural Ultradian Rhythms.  And... really... most meetings run needlessly long anyway!

Consider breaking your day into 90-120 minute blocks of time.  Rather than fighting these natural body rhythms, defer to them instead.  A break needn't be long in duration for it to provide you with enough of a rest for your energy and focus to improve.  Potential ideas for workday renewal breaks?

• take a walk
• read a chapter of a book, or listen to one
• listen to music
• do some light stretches
• prepare and eat a light, healthy snack
• work on a puzzle, crossword, sudoku

You get the idea!  Whatever activity would work best for you and relieve you of some of the physical and mental stress you've experienced so far.  Allow your mind to switch gears, take a break from the task at hand, so that it can be more focused when you return.  Odds are that the solution to the problem you were stuck on before the break, is waiting for you upon your return!



(if you are interested in learning more about the idea of Managing your Energy to increase your time effectiveness, send us a blank email with Energy Ebook in the subject line.  We'd be more than happy to forward you a pdf of our ebook... enjoy!)