Do you ever feel like you have too much to do and not enough time to get it all accomplished? If that sounds like “the story of your life,” you are certainly not alone!
A few months ago, I had the opportunity to attend a training in energy management offered by my employer. At the training, I learned that the average person’s energy capacity peaks around age 25 or 30, but demands on our time increase with age. Many of those demands are due to responsibilities we choose to take on, such as raising families and taking promotions at work. However, that doesn’t lessen the squeeze we feel trying to do more in less time. While we are unable to add more hours to the day no matter how hard we work, experts suggest that managing energy rather than time can help you feel more satisfied and less stressed in your life. It may also improve your physical, mental and social health, since we tend to sacrifice sleep, relationships, exercise, healthy eating and more when we feel caught up in the demands of day-to-day life.
To begin managing and maximizing your energy, see the infographic below to learn about the four different dimensions of energy and strategies you might use for improving each of them in your own life.
As you review the dimensions, take inventory of whether you are engaging in energy promoting or energy depleting behaviors in each realm. To maximize energy, you need to recharge yourself every time you expend a significant amount of your energy. This means incorporating energy promoting behaviors into your routine in place of any energy depleting behaviors that you regularly engage in, despite how hard it may seem to make a change. But, rather than viewing the change as “one more thing” you have to do, try to view the change as an investment in yourself. You might ask yourself the following reflection questions to identify realistic, attainable changes you could make:
- Who or what is getting my energy?
- Is my energy flow aligned with what I want or value in life?
If the answer to the second question is “no”, it might be time to make a change in the direction of your energy flow. Your life will feel more purposeful and meaningful when your energy flow aligns with your ultimate life goals and values. Take some time today to evaluate whether you are using your energy in a way that invigorates and revitalizes your whole self.
Written by: Jenny Lobb, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension, Franklin County, lobb.3@osu.edu
Reviewed by: Shannon Carter, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension, Fairfield County
Sources:
Schwartz, T. and McCarthy, C. (2007). Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2007/10/manage-your-energy-not-your-time
The Ohio State University College of Nursing (2018). Are You a Health Athlete or a Nurse Athlete? https://healthathlete.org/
University of Michigan, Ross School of Business (2017). Ross Professor Shares 11 Ways to Boost Your Energy and Get More Done. http://positiveorgs.bus.umich.edu/news/ross-professor-shares-11-ways-to-boost-your-energy-and-get-more-done/
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