On managing your energy
Organizations are demanding ever-higher performance from their workforces. People are trying to comply, but the usual method—putting in longer hours—has backfired. They’re getting exhausted, disengaged, and sick. And they’re defecting to healthier job environments.
The core problem with working longer hours is that time is a finite resource. Energy is a different story.
Defined in physics as the capacity to work, energy comes from four main wellsprings in human beings: the body, emotions, mind, and spirit. In each, energy can be systematically expanded and regularly renewed by establishing specific rituals—behaviors that are intentionally practiced and precisely scheduled, with the goal of making them unconscious and automatic as quickly as possible.
By fostering deceptively simple rituals that help employees regularly replenish their energy, organizations build workers’ physical, emotional, and mental resilience.
The Four Dimensions of Personal Energy
💪🏼 Physical Energy
- Enhance your sleep by setting an earlier bedtime and reducing alcohol use.
- Reduce stress by engaging in cardiovascular activity at least three times a week and strength training at least once.
- Eat small meals and light snacks every three hours.
- Learn to notice signs of imminent energy flagging, including restlessness, yawning, hunger, and difficulty concentrating.
- Take brief but regular breaks, away from your desk, at 90- to 120-minute intervals throughout the day.
🧘🏼♀️ Emotional Energy
- Defuse negative emotions—irritability, impatience, anxiety, insecurity—through deep abdominal breathing.
- Fuel positive emotions in yourself and others by regularly expressing appreciation to others in detailed, specific terms through notes, e-mails, calls, or conversations.
- Look at upsetting situations through new lenses. Adopt a “reverse lens” to ask, “What would the other person in this conflict say, and how might he be right?” Use a “long lens” to ask, “How will I likely view this situation in six months?” Employ a “wide lens” to ask, “How can I grow and learn from this situation?”
🧠 Mental Energy
- Reduce interruptions by performing high-concentration tasks away from phones and e-mail.
- Respond to voice mails and e-mails at designated times during the day.
- Every night, identify the most important challenge for the next day. Then make it your first priority when you arrive at work in the morning.
✊🏼 Spiritual Energy
- Identify your “sweet spot” activities — those that give you feelings of effectiveness, effortless absorption, and fulfillment. Find ways to do more of these. One executive who hated doing sales reports delegated them to someone who loved that activity.
- Allocate time and energy to what you consider most important. For example, spend the last 20 minutes of your evening commute relaxing, so you can connect with your family once you’re home.
- Live your core values. For instance, if consideration is important to you but you’re perpetually late for meetings, practice intentionally showing up five minutes early for meetings.
How Companies Can Help
To support energy renewal rituals in your firm:
- Build “renewal rooms” where people can go to relax and refuel.
- Subsidize gym memberships.
- Encourage managers to gather employees for midday workouts.
- Suggest that people stop checking e-mails during meetings.
Are you headed for an energy crisis?
Check the statements below that are true for you.
Physical Energy
☐ I don’t regularly get at least seven to eight hours of sleep, and I often wake up feeling tired.
☐ I frequently skip breakfast, or I settle for something that isn’t nutritious.
☐ I don’t work out enough (meaning cardiovascular training at least three times a week and strength training at least once a week).
☐ I don’t take regular breaks during the day to truly renew and recharge, or I often eat lunch at my desk, if I eat it at all.
Emotional Energy
☐ I frequently find myself feeling irritable, impatient, or anxious at work, especially when work is demanding.
☐ I don’t have enough time with my family and loved ones, and when I’m with them, I’m not always really with them.
☐ I have too little time for the activities that I most deeply enjoy.
☐ I don’t stop frequently enough to express my appreciation to others or to savor my accomplishments and blessings.
Mental Energy
☐ I have difficulty focusing on one thing at a time, and I am easily distracted during the day, especially by e-mail.
☐ I spend much of my day reacting to immediate crises and demands rather than focusing on activities with longer-term value and high leverage.
☐ I don’t take enough time for reflection, strategizing, and creative thinking.
☐ I work in the evenings or on weekends, and I almost never take an e-mail–free vacation.
Spiritual Energy
☐ I don’t spend enough time at work doing what I do best and enjoy most.
☐ There are significant gaps between what I say is most important to me in my life and how I actually allocate my time and energy.
☐ My decisions at work are more often influenced by external demands than by a strong, clear sense of my own purpose.
☐ I don’t invest enough time and energy in making a positive difference to others or to the world.
Results
General
How many statements did you check in total?
| Score | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| 0-3 | Excellent energy management skills |
| 4-6 | Reasonable energy management skills |
| 7-10 | Significant energy management deficits |
| 11-16 | A full-fledged energy management crisis |
Category breakdown
How many checks did you make in each category?
| Score | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| 0 | Excellent energy management skills |
| 1 | Strong energy management skills |
| 2 | Significant deficits |
| 3 | Poor energy management skills |
| 4 | A full-fledged energy crisis |