Manage Your Energy Not Your Time: Energy Management Tips

To manage your energy not your time means to understand your stamina is renewable, whereas time is a finite resource. You can work more efficiently by investing in your health and emotional well-being and taking breaks to refresh rather than draining yourself with long hours. Consider how much energy it takes to complete a task rather than how much time it takes. When you focus on energy management over time management, you can better balance your workload with your personal energy.

When CEOs and entrepreneurs prioritize their staff’s well-being and invest in their workforce, employees come to work with more energy to complete complex tasks. Training in energy management can help your staff realize what depletes their energy, take accountability, and shift habits.

You can improve your work-life balance by thinking of energy cost versus time spent on tasks. Here are a few tips to consider when trying to manage your energy during the workday:

1. 1. Assess your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual energy levels. Evaluate your energy resources from a few different angles. Your physical energy includes the sleep, exercise, and nutrition you need to sustain yourself during the day. Your mental energy involves your ability to focus and think critically. Your spiritual and emotional energy includes how you manage negative emotions and the rituals you complete to feel positive emotions. Do a self-assessment to determine the quality of energy in each of these realms.
2. 2. Establish rituals to help you manage your energy. After determining where you lack energy, prioritize investing in areas where you feel depleted. Establishing rituals—especially ones that allow you to connect with your core values—can help you balance your personal and work life and prevent you from experiencing burnout. Establishing a consistent exercise ritual can help you sustain high energy levels, or creating a mindfulness ritual can help you feel centered and rejuvenated.
3. 3. Determine how much time you need to recover. Knowing when you need to rest, how long to rest, and what type of relaxation you need to feel rejuvenated the next day is crucial. Set designated times throughout the day to take regular breaks between work sprints, and consider downtime an essential investment in your health.

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