HOW TO MANAGE YOUR ENERGY TO GET MORE DONE
We all like to cross things off our to-do lists but do you sometimes feel frustrated at how long things take to get done or completely overwhelmed that you end up doing nothing at all? In this episode we're going to talk about the three keys to effectively manage your productivity and energy to achieve more while doing less.
Today what I want to do is to talk about managing your energy. Time is the only resource that we don't get back. So wouldn't you want to spend it wisely, doing more of the things that matter and less of the things that don't?
Our days are filled with a seemingly endless amount of tasks to get done - emails, reports, laundry, you name it. Somehow we think that if we could work a bit faster, we’d be okay.
But trying to do more with our time, and squander any time saved by cramming even more things into our overflowing schedules. Finding a quicker way to write our daily emails, for instance, just means we’ll start preparing tomorrow’s emails sooner.
Your current understanding about productivity may be holding you back. You don't need to get more done; you need to focus our attention on getting impactful things done at the right time and with optimal energy.
In this episode, we'll uncover:
How being productive starts with identifying unnecessary tasks;
How to plan your day around a big three and create an ideal work week;
The power of yes and no;
The ideas I’m sharing today come from Michael Hyatt’s book, Free to Focus, which absolutely revolutionized the way I think about my time, my energy and how I approach productivity. I highly recommend this read.
With that, let’s get started.
Key Idea #1: Being productive means identifying unnecessary tasks.
Effective productivity should give you more time for rest and recharge, making you more focused and efficient – but how can you achieve this? The first step is to cut the nonessential tasks in your workday. Doing less to be more productive may seem strange, but it’s the most important secret to efficiency.
Productivity isn’t about doing more of everything – it’s about doing more of the right things. This means identifying key tasks to focus on and trimming away everything else.
Michael Hyatt talks about evaluating your most common tasks and evaluating your passion and proficiency for each task. This exercise will help you find the best ones to cut out.
For example, I have a great appreciation for design but I’m not a passionate or proficient graphic designer. It takes an enormous amount of energy for me to design something from scratch. While I might enjoy aspects of it, it is draining. What that means for me is that I need to outsource my graphic design needs at work and in my business or have templates designed so it's a quick edit on my part. This gives me room to complete tasks that I’m passionate and proficient at such as writing.
Perhaps bookkeeping bores you, and you always get it wrong anyway. See if you can outsource this or start delegating this to other members of your team.
By the way, you can apply this to home life as well. I’m actually really scarily proficient at cleaning my house but if I can outsource the deep cleaning stuff, then that mean I have more time with family or more time to work on my business.
Spending your time on tasks you’re both passionate about and proficient in is the most enjoyable and high-value way to spend your time. By making tasks with high passion-proficiency scores your guiding professional light, and cutting away everything else, you’ll be more productive than you ever knew you could be.
Key Idea #2: To be free to focus, you must learn the power of yes and no.
It’s easy to be overworked and overcommitted – the hard part is having the discipline to prioritize. How is it that some people manage to accomplish so much more than others in the same amount of time? One reason is that highly productive people understand the power of no.
People who know the value of their time can say no, both to unnecessary tasks and requests. This might even mean saying no to good things like volunteer opportunities or a freelance project. They know that if they allowed them to, these tasks and requests could take up all their time and energy and prevent them from focusing on truly important work or experiences.
Saying no like this becomes far easier when you understand that time is a zero-sum game. You can’t add a few extra hours to the day, or find spare time like loose change in the sofa. Unlike money or food, time is the only resource we can’t get more of. When you spend it, it’s gone.
Bottom line here? Saying no to irrelevant tasks or time-wasters means saying yes to your important goals.
Key Idea #3: Plan your day around a big three and create an ideal week to aim for.
Whether you’re running an organization or running your home, there is power in planning your day. Plan your day around a big three – three tasks that we must accomplish or move forward on that day. These are our priorities, and anything else achieved is a bonus. The advantage of this system is that it forces us to prioritize our objectives.
Another great way to boost productivity is by having an ideal week mapped out. Start with a blank week planner and design your perfect week.
I’ve used the Full Focus Planner and Self-Planner (I’ll link in the show notes) to map out my ideal week. For example, I schedule all of my meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Monday and Wednesday are reserved for deep work or projects and Fridays I plan for the week ahead and work on my business.
I practice this same kind of approach as a mom. Because I’m a work from home parent and have a flexible schedule, I create an ideal week. Tuesday and Thursdays I schedule mid-morning play dates and plan out 3 learning or craft activities to do each week.
Obviously, our ideal week won’t be achievable every week – we’re constantly pitched curveballs, and issues arise that disrupt our rhythm – but that’s okay.
Life isn’t perfect. When we have a clear picture in our mind of an ideal week, we gain a new sense of purpose, a target to aim for and a sense of satisfaction when we hit it.
Take Action
Create a not-to-do list.
As we’ve seen, the key to enhanced productivity is not doing more, but doing more of the right things.
And for productivity-minded individuals, the hardest part often comes when trying to decide which tasks and responsibilities to eliminate from their weekly schedule.
To tackle this challenge, consider creating a not-to-do list. For example, don’t want to waste time dealing with issues outside your department? Put these on your not-to-do list, and stick to that. This will help shift your attitude away from a damaging “take on everything” mindset.
At Work (e.g., Design vs. Writing)
At Home (e.g., House Cleaning)
In Relationships (e.g., Off-Limits Conversations)
The Takeaway
Productivity isn’t about saving a few minutes on each task and using that time to blindly take on more work. We need to be smarter about which tasks we choose to focus on, ensuring that these are high-value jobs that most benefit our business. If we are more discerning about what we undertake and combine this with high-quality rest and recovery, we set ourselves up for a highly productive day – as long as we can negotiate the minefield of the distraction economy.