Do You Need More Time or Energy?

Feb 6

Getting Curious

Even before the closures, and the work from home brought on by the pandemic, I was interested in how individuals and teams stay energized at work. I am even more curious to see how we evolve as teams with new ways of getting the work done.

As my own career progressed, I experienced firsthand not feeling like I had enough time to do what I wanted to do at work or outside of work. I fell into saying yes to each new offer of an “exciting new project” before evaluating what I actually had the time for.

Sneakily, workdays got longer and days without work got fewer and far between. If I did take a day off or a vacation, I doubled down before, worried during and panicked after. I constantly felt like I was behind. People around me seemed to manage it better than me, and I wanted to know how.

I tried to figure it out mathematically. I worked with my boss on a productivity reporting system that would help manage what my team and I were responsible for in 37.5 hours per week. It didn’t work. What the team was responsible for physically required a minimum of 47 hours, and that was without the travel time.

After a particularly demanding training season, I took a leave from work. I thought I just needed rest. Despite the math that I had seen, I had still been adding hours to the days, to get it all done. I was simply checking off the boxes, with no satisfaction or energy created from what I was doing and I was feeling shame that I couldn’t “hack it .” I was frustrated with myself.

I hid out for a while, and then the problem solver in me came out. I started to ask people I thought had it all together how they could handle everything and tell them what was going on for me. It was surprising to me that many of them were hanging on by a thread. I had made up the story that they were “better at life” than me. The people I spoke to who were able to stay in the flow knew themselves. They knew where they were energized, embraced and honoured that. I learned that they weren’t better than me; they were more aware than me.

I was trying to manage my time instead of getting to know myself and how my own energy flowed.

I learned it is not the job title, or amount of responsibility that determines how much energy there is for work, or at the end of the day, it’s how energy is managed. It’s really knowing myself, what energizes me, what depletes me and working from there. Rather than comparing myself against others, finding ways to work with others was more effective than time management ever would be.

I was solving the wrong problem.

So, where does the energy come and where can you find it when you need it?

Getting Clear

Time is a finite resource. Energy is a different story.

The dictionary definition of energy is the strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity.

Taking care of our bodies with healthy food, water, deep sleep, movement, and quiet time is essential, so make sure you do that. The secret ingredient that often gets underutilized is Connection with others.

Energy is never really “used up”; it is just transferred from one form to another: from one project to another or one person to another. Sharing energy with others actually creates more energy.

Individuals and teams can increase their capacity to get things done with some simple practices resulting in more resilience, productivity and happiness at work and away from work.

Getting Connected

There are plenty of resources with strategies to take better care of your body. How to eat better, sleep better, move better, schedule better. Just type “how to have more energy” into your search bar, and you’ll get a list of things you can do.

Here is 1 practice that helped me notice what activities, people, and places energized and depleted me. With this Personal Energy Audit, I tracked where I was giving away more energy than I was getting back and used what I learned to begin to create a flow of energy.

By taking 3-5 minutes, 4 times a day, I noticed patterns of what energized me and what depleted me. With this information and some strategically chosen people, I began to change the energy flow in my workday. I noticed I got more done and had more energy outside of work. This isn’t a one-and-done practice. I still find myself slipping into energy deficiencies. An energy audit is one way to check in with yourself and get back on track by sharing energy with people.

Click here for the instructions .

Wishing you buckets full of curiosity and learning in this practice.