3 ideas for how to get your energy back

Here’s something I’ll go to the mat for:

The most important thing you can do each day is managing your energy effectively.

Nothing else in your life will get done effectively, if you don’t have enough energy. And seemingly, unrelated things — procrastinating, struggling to know what you want in life, struggling to focus, for example — are often tied to a lack of energy.

I think that this problem is — quite frankly — at the level of a crisis.

It’s a crisis for the people who are exhausted, most of the time.
It’s a crisis for their partners, their friends, and their kids — who never get to experience them when they’re not exhausted.
And it’s a crisis for the world — for the great things they will never do because they are too exhausted.  

I want to tell you three things that I passionately believe about managing your energy effectively.

1.     You have agency.

2.     Planning out on what and when you’ll work has a pretty insane ROI.

3.     Stop burning $100 bills in the fireplace.

Let me say more about each of these:


1. You have agency.

Many people believe that more energy is simply not possible for them. I have kids/a busy job/so many responsibilities. I just need to keep pushing for the next year or so.

Of course, life circumstances do contribute to you having limited energy. And, of course, systemic issues do, as well.

But also: You are contributing to your lack of energy. You are likely contributing far more than you think.

Here’s how I know: I have never found a 1:1 life coaching client who I couldn’t help find more energy (and time), if it was something that they wanted. Did it sometimes require thinking creatively or making some tradeoffs? Sure. But those tradeoffs were always net positive for them.


2. Planning out on what and when you’ll work has a pretty insane ROI.

Planning “on what” you’ll work means being very clear on: What are actually the 1-3 most important things for you to accomplish at work, today?

Planning “when” you’ll work means literally deciding: when will you do this? Typically, this means looking at your calendar each morning (or the night before), and identifying blocks of uninterrupted time (no checking email!) when you can make meaningful progress.

Both of these activities require unflinching honesty:

• How long will it actually take you to do that task? (Not how many will it take in a dream-rockstar-productivity world. But how long with it take your real, human, sometimes-sensitive-and-tired self take?)
  

• How many hours a day, and how many minutes in a row, can your brain actually do challenging work? (Ditto the above. Plan for your real, human, sometimes-sensitive-and-tired self.)
  

For most of us, things take longer, and we have less capacity to work, than we’d like to imagine.

And yet, the results from that honesty, planning, and undistracted execution are astonishing. It is the only way to work less while getting higher-quality work done. And isn’t that what we all want?


3. Stop burning $100 bills in the fireplace.

Many of us chronically over-tired folks act like people with $10,000 of credit card debt who also burn $100 bills in the fireplace every night “for warmth.”  

Your nightly 2-hour Instagram or YouTube habit? The way you check your email every 15 minutes? It is making you more tired.

And yes, this issue is complex. Sometimes we’re so tired that we feel that we need that little jolt of dopamine to get through our exhausting lives.

But I need to be honest with you: overall, you are making yourself more tired.

You simply can’t afford to leak energy like this. 

To be clear: I’m not an advocate of going cold turkey on tech usage. For most of us, that just doesn’t work. But even small actions can make a difference. And it’s not just technology! Most of us have other things that are leaking our energy as well.

But it's worth it to answer the question with unflinching honesty: What are the obvious things that I’m doing, that are like burning $100 bills in the fireplace?

…

Sometimes, when our brains are chronically tired, it’s hard to remember: wait, how do I get less tired?

So here’s a reminder:

1.     Remember that you have agency. You can find more energy. It’s possible.

2.     Remember that planning out on what and when you’ll work has a pretty insane ROI. Just decide what matters most + when you’ll do it, each day. Being reactive with your workday is a recipe for working far more hours than you truly need to.

3.     Stop burning $100 bills in the fireplace. You are likely making yourself more tired. See if you can reduce some of those activities to get your energy back.

And above all, please know that I’m rooting for you in the week ahead – and always.

You’ve got this.

Katie

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