By Amy King
In the first part of this article series, I talked about the environments in which extended exposure tends to leave me overstimulated and drained and I shared the first 5 ways in which I protect or attempt to protect my energy which included:
1. Planning and limiting my social engagements to what works best for me. I’m at a stage of my life where the relationships and the interactions I have within those are as intentional as possible.
2. Reducing the number of mundane decisions as possible. Meal prep for example is a no brainer, I have specific athletic and performance goals that are anchored on good nutrition – so I don’t need to waste time on thinking about “what am I going to eat for lunch”.
3. Sticking to 3 priorities per quarter. I’m not sure about you but I have no shortage of inspiration, ideas and things I want to do in my life. But unfortunately, you can’t do them all, so I pick 3 main ones that are the most important towards my medium and long-term goals. This helps me create boundaries and keeps me focused.
4. Limiting and controlling the distractions within my control. If this means turning off notifications and blocking out noise then so be it. Being able to stay focused on your own schedule and not reacting to everyone else’s agenda helps keep me sane haha.
5. Reducing Coffee. She’s types after consuming her 3rd double espresso for the morning… like I said still a WIP for me.
So, before we get onto part 2 let’s take a moment now to reflect on your insights (or even just make a mental note).
I encourage you to do this, as continually building awareness around what energises and drains you helps you schedule your days based on this or at the very least, opens you up to explore what strategies might work for you.
1. What are some of the environments, responsibilities or tasks that overstimulate and / or drain you?
2. What are you already doing that is working well in terms of protecting your energy and focus? Why is that?
P.S. Feel free to share your insights in the comments section…
Here are 5 more unconventional ways in which I manage my energy or things I am working on to improve it.
I am fortunate enough to work for a flexible multinational organisation, and I enjoy that the flexibility goes both ways. So, for example, my immediate team are located in a few different national and international locations. That means I am required to attend meetings that best fit in with each of the different time zones. As such I have a few days where I start work at 6am and sometimes work in the evening. So, I’ll work in the morning for 3 to 4 hours before going into the office and then leave early. This way, where possible I avoid peak hour traffic, school drop-offs and the white-knuckle grip of the steering wheel frustration that comes with that.
In terms of my training, most of this is done in “the shed”, 1:1 with my coach, the times are protected and only ever changed if a significant work priority needs to occur during one of those sessions. This training is also usually scheduled at off-peak times and it’s a boundary that is protected (and respected by my work) because it’s a personal non-negotiable… after all, you can’t be an athlete without actually training... This structure helps me focus intensely on training during the session without the distractions of a commercial gym, and to uphold the boundary – because it’s not just my time, it’s my coach’s. So, that extra accountability helps me balance my needs and energy.
One thing I have learnt after nearly 10 years of bodybuilding and nearly 15 years of working in Corporate… if you commit to something, are clear on your boundaries and deliver what you say you will, the right workplace will respect it. The same goes with anything else that is a personal priority of yours, which might be care giving activities and so on. The trick to creating a schedule that works for you, is to get clear on how you want to spend your days, get clear on the skills you have and need, book in your personal priorities first and then find the right work that enables that.
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I’m not sure about you, but my to-do list is seemingly ridiculous and if I’m not careful I can easily find myself in a whirlwind, ruinating about what else I need to get done for the day. That can make me extra irritable and sensitive to distractions and disruptions. So where possible, I avoid context switching.
Context switching is when you go from doing one thing to a totally different thing that requires a totally different way of thinking. For example, problem-solving and reporting.
Where possible, I batch tasks together, so I have a couple of heavy meeting days, big blocks dedicated for executing my “big rocks” and then dedicated time for admin, emails and training clients.
Give me a container of time and I will fill it to the brim… That means, if you give me 5 days to do a task, I’ll take the full 5 days. If I’m given less time, I seem to do the same work in less time. There’s probably a lot of deeper things I need to unpack internally around my less functional perfectionistic tendencies and procrastination… but for now, I work with where I’m at.
I also have this ability to get absolutely absorbed in a task and lose track of time, and start spinning my wheels or getting too detailed. On the flipside if I’m in a creative or deep-thinking mode go off in about 20 different directions with beautiful, broad and divergent ideas. It’s a lot of fun, and it’s necessary, but left unchecked doesn’t help me move forward.
So, to help me stay focused and protect the time I have planned for other tasks I’ll use a pomodoro timer. This helps me focus, constantly realign with my priorities, and then forces me to take a short break. The break helps me to refresh and reassess if I need to shuffle my schedule to continue what I’m working on, or to leave it there and get on with another important task.
As I mentioned before, I am fortunate to work for a big, progressive multinational corporation that walks the walk when it comes to flexible working, and we have a hybrid model where we can spend half our time working from home.
Working from home more often has been a game changer for me in terms of controlling the noise, distractions and physical environment to what works for me best. It also gives me options to manage my energy better to take needed breaks to reenergise.
Working from home has also made meal prep and staying on top of my nutrition so much easier. Whilst I still prep my food, I can cook as I go and eat food off plates rather than on the go, cold, out of Tupperware.
As part of my sport, what I eat and when I eat it is key to my performance, particularly during “on-season”. However, I find that in off-season I will still stick to my eating plan as the stable energy, elevated mood and cognition I get from consistently good eating is now a minimum expectation.
The idea that you have to hustle yourself to success, means that many of us ignore our internal cues, drop our reenergising activities and attempt to push through. Thinking we can just overcome our depleting resources. What you don’t see is that most elite athletes and high performers are just as disciplined around their rest and recovery as they are with active endeavours.
So now when my brain and body need a break, I do my best to take one. Sometimes I go for a walk, sometimes I watch tv, sometimes I meditate or do a bit of study. Sometimes, I still feel guilty but take the break anyway. I’ve realised, I serve others better when I feel happy, healthy and energised.
I’ve also realised that if you need to slow down, to create space and bandwidth, that’s actually okay. Often the perceived pressure we have to perform at full speed 100% of the time is an arbitrary rule that we have created in response to a modern culture obsessed with maximising productivity.
The trick here is to challenge your internal beliefs around the need to be on the ball, traveling at light speed for every hour of each day.
Here's the big takeaway, success at all costs isn't the goal. Having an athletic, career and other goals that supports your lifestyle, needs and wants is. Building the life of your dreams all on your own terms is the flex...
So, over to you – what’s one thing you’ll change to help you optimise your energy levels?
Amy King is the founder of AKE Fitness & Nutrition. When she’s not serving her clients, she is pursuing her corporate career in mining, bodybuilding and spending time with loved ones. She calls Perth, Western Australia home.
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