How to Manage Your Energy – Part 2

Last week, I shared the first step in How to Manage Your Energy.

Today, I’m going to share with you Step 2. But, if you haven’t done the exercise I shared in Part 1, do that first, because today I’m going to tell you what to do with those results.

Again, if you haven’t completed Step 1 yet, go ahead and do it here and then you can come back for Step 2 afterwards.

Last week I covered the evaluation process of “energy management” and today I’m going to share the execution process so that you can begin to take steps toward creating a life that is filled with activities you love and enjoy because they bring you energy and begin to lessen the activities that drain your energy.

Last week, your job was to “evaluate” how you spend your time. This week, we’re going to take those results and move to Step 2, the “execution” phase.

Let’s start with the activities that you currently have on your schedule that drain your energy. There are three things you can do with those activities. Like last week, I include another worksheet you can use to complete this second step.

Click here for the downloadable PDF worksheet for today’s exercise.

Again, we want your schedule to be filled with “green” activities – those that bring you energy and lessen as much as possible those “red” activities – those that drain your energy, so that when you look at your normal week at a glance you’ll see a lot of “green” and little to no “red.”

Since we want to keep the things you have in “green,” today we’re talking about what to do with the “red” – the activities that drain your energy. Remember, we want to minimize these things as much as possible. Here are three things you can do:

#1 – Eliminate

If possible, just get rid of it like you would an outdated or worn out piece of clothing. Now if this activity is something you can’t just eliminate, like your job for example, then let’s see if #2 or #3 can help out.

#2 – Delegate

If possible, ask for help. This can be uncomfortable for us women, but consider the phrase, “Do what you do best and hire (or hand it off to) the rest.”

Delegating can also involve hiring someone to do it for you. Take a housekeeping chore for example; can you hand some or all of it off? Can you hire a housekeeper a few times a month or at least once a month? What about care giving for a parent — could you ask one of your siblings to take over some of the responsibilities?

Imagine how this could free up some time and energy to do something else that you might want and need in your life right now – something that “brings” you energy.

#3 – Increase Efficiency

If the first two aren’t going to work for you, is there a way you can get more efficient with the activity? Can you do it faster or find a better way to do it?

I work with a few teachers who spend a lot of time grading papers outside of work. One of them found that if she puts some of her favorite music on while she grades — she not only gets through it faster, but it also makes it more enjoyable.

For those “energy draining” activities you can’t eliminate or delegate, can you find a better way to do it or at least make it more enjoyable somehow?

Now, perhaps you have some obligations that you just absolutely cannot eliminate, delegate, or increase your efficiency with them. If so, just accept it for the time being or be creative and think of others ways you might be able “lessen the load.”

If it’s something like a job or care-taking for example, be sure that you schedule in some time for things that bring you energy (AKA Me Time!) so that it offsets some of these uncontrollable “energy-draining” duties.

I hope this exercise has helped you begin to take steps toward improving your energy management.

One thing we will never know is when our time is up. It’s yours, so be smart, be diligent, and be intentional about how you spend it.

It’s your turn to take care of you,

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