How To Manage Your Energy

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More energy, please! How to get more out of your day

It`s not your time management that matters, it´s your energy management

Liam had a packed day: At the office he had to handle some pretty demanding client requests, and after work he continued planning his birthday party. He burnt the midnight oil by making lists and designing flyers.
At the end of this day - he felt great!

Patty's day consisted almost entirely of routine tasks. Her only diversions were making unloved appointments with her gynecologist and the tax accountant. She also had to go and find a gift for her always-nagging mother-in-law. The search for it nearly drove her crazy: Since it is basically impossible to please her mother-in-law, this put a lot of pressure on Patty. The thought that her mother-in-law might not be satisfied with the gift was constantly buzzing around in her head. The only thing that was even more uncomfortable was the thought of the upcoming tax deadline.
In the evening, Patty felt drained.

When we do something we enjoy or find meaningful, "positive stress" gets us going. Then these sorts of tasks not only cost us energy, but also give us energy back at the same time. For an evening review of the day, it is then not the objective stress level that is decisive, but rather the personal energy balance: We evaluate according to whether and how much energy we have received or whether we have been deprived of energy.

But how to deal with energy-sapping tasks?

So what to do when annoying routine tasks can't be avoided? And what to do with the gift for the nagging mother-in-law?

A few thoughts on this:

1. “Nobody has to have to” (Gotthold Ephraim Lessing):
   Let's look at it this way: We do a task because we ultimately want to. Because we feel even less like experiencing the consequences of not doing this unloved task. An appointment with the tax advisor is not much fun, but the tax audit that would be due if we don't go is even less fun.

2. What's your "why"?
   What is your goal behind the unpleasant task? Patty's job contains boring routine tasks. Why does she do it anyway? Maybe she can't find a better alternative right now, and maybe she needs the money in order to pay her rent. After all, she'd much rather live in that nice apartment than in the woods. Besides, she is saving for her surf vacation. A clear why, right?

3. Resistance costs energy.
   Imagine a task that could actually be done in 30 minutes. But this task annoys us so much that we spend hours thinking about it before, during and after accomplishing it. We tell ourselves what nonsense all this is! And maybe we also tell the neighbor, who then also wastes his energy out of pure empathy.

4. How can resistance be dissolved?
   The more you resist something that you will end up doing anyway, the more energy you need - and the more pointless this energy consumption is. This waste of energy is comparable to a heater that runs with the window open.
   
   So how about just “pricing in” the unloved thing? If you are going to do the task anyway, you might as well do it directly, i.e. without "mental detours". You could mentally write off the time and think "What the heck, the haunting will soon be over."
   And: If the chances of the mother-in-law's approval are low anyway - why sweat over creative ideas? Instead, just implement the next idea that comes along, the result will always be the same in any case. Therefore: Take a breath, order a gift and accept that she will grumble. That will save you a lot of mental energy.

5. Turning resistance into curiosity

   You can also reduce inner resistance by changing our perspective and by switching from resistance to curiosity.
   The question is: Which part of this traumatically boring topic could be interesting for you? Is there any aspect that interests you even a little?

   You could ask yourself the following questions: Why are others so excited about it? Where is the benefit? How could it make your job easier? Often it's just a matter of finding the right entry point.

What you resist persists

(Carl Gustav Jung)

The flow state

“A result is not made more valuable by the fact that we made it particularly difficult for ourselves to achieve it”

Children are our teachers, it is often said. Obviously children play and live completely in the present. They are intrinsically motivated - no one has to motivate them from the outside. They are also very productive: playing teaches them all the skills they need for life.

Even as adults, we can get into such a state, which Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls FLOW. In the flow state, we are productive without much effort. We we are in a flow, tasks seem to be done with ease and we are absorbed in what we are doing. We forget about time. And best of all, results often occur along the way.

But how do you get into a flow state?

Csikszentmihalyi states: Flow arises when we are concentrated and wholeheartedly engaged in our activity; when we really dedicate ourselves to it. 
In everyday life, this is often not the case: Being wholeheartedly involved is exactly the opposite of working things off lovelessly while thinking about the next 5 to-dos.

To get into the flow, you must to be without pressure and without fear of embarrassing yourself. Flow itself cannot be forced, but you can create favorable conditions or avoid unfavorable ones: For example, by taking the pressure off yourself or by avoiding time pressure - that is, by giving yourself (more) time.

For flow to occur, there must also be the perfect balance between skill and challenge. The task must therefore be neither too difficult nor too easy. The flow experience is thus deeply individual and depends on the perfect feasibility-challenge-mix.

Conclusion: 3 approaches for your energy management

1. Self-reflection:
   If you know what makes you tick, you can react more consciously.
   You can only eliminate energy thieves if you really know them. You can only expand your energy providers once you know them.
   So you could ask yourself more regularly: What gives you good energy? And what activities mean bad energy for you?
   The better you know yourself, the better you can act.

2. Delete “should” and “have to”
   This thought suggests that it would be best to eliminate the word “should” or “have to” from our vocabulary altogether. Remember, the more you resist something you're going to end up doing anyway, the more energy you need and the more pointless that energy consumption is.
   
   Less “have to” = less resistance = less energy consumption
   
   The idea can be spun even further by trying to find an interesting aspect in things that cause your resistance.

3. Create a FLOW environment
   In a flow state you won´t need a lot of effort and energy.
   Ideally, your work is neither too hard nor too easy. In addition, you are doing yourself a favor by reducing time pressure: Set time buffers and create free spaces.
   And: To increase the likelihood of a flow state, try not to put too much pressure on yourself. Remind yourself: What is it all about? For most of us, it's rarely a matter of life and death or of performing brain surgery. So why take everything so seriously? It´s more fun with fun ;)
   And by the way: The quickest way to take the pressure out of a situation is humor.
   

FLOW
Feel Lightness Of Work

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Mindset Inspiration

Things are not what they seem, they are what we make them.
(Jean Anouilh)


There is no way to happiness because happiness is the road.
(unknown)

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You want to start with some self-reflection?

Then these posts may be interesting for you - to get to know yourself better:

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