The Introduction:
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
We've all heard of time-management: Prioritizing tasks and allotting time periods to each of them, making a schedule to complete work, organizing what to do and when. This is a concept each of us is familiar with. Time-management can feel empowering at times; writing down tasks and telling yourself when to do them makes you feel like you're on top of everything that you were once overwhelmed by. Unfortunately, life just ain't that easy, and planning out your days hour-by-hour is not realistic. For this reason, time-management just doesn't work for most of us. Even if we can plan out our days ina realistic manner, new tasks, duties, responsibilities, and chores come up, and we grow tired and lose the motivation, and the ability, to keep up with our rigorously managed time. We begin to fall behind, and are stuck in a perpetual game of catch up, waiting for each task to approach us instead of us approaching it. Making the 'right' schedule is an impossible game. But there is a strategy that works, a strategy that puts time-management secondary to something even more important than your time; your energy. Energy management is the way to make the most of the time that you've got, not just organize it. So take 'ol Albert's advice and change when the same thing isn't working out. For a full introduction to the topic of energy management, see this article from Harvard Business Review.
Key Takeaways:
Time is a finite resource. This means that, as your work tasks pile up, and you attempt to take more on, you lose out on time outside of work, and take time from areas you may not want to, or are even able to. This is where a lot of burnout comes in: people tend to take more on as they go further in school or their career, but they have the same amount of time as they started with, and therefore have to work longer than they did before. Energy, however, is not a finite resource; if managed properly, your energy levels can maximize within the time you have, thereby allowing you to get more done in the same amount of time.
The first big step towards properly managing your time is to focus it. Research has shown, on multiple occasions, that multi-tasking significantly reduces productivity. So, as tempting as it is to have limitless different tabs open, listen to music, answer DMs and emails simultaneously, you're taking a lot less time to do all of it. Mansgin your energy means using it in an effective manner, and focusing on one task at a time will assist greatly in using your energy in the most effective way possible.
A second key take away has to do with what's called an "Ultradian Rhythm". An Ultradian rhythm is basically a circadian rhythm but within the day, as opposed to between-days like a circadian rhythm. Our energy levels cycle through periods of 90-120 minutes where our energy levels rise and fall. As an effective energy management strategy, we can recognize when we're peaking, and when we're in a trough, and choose what tasks and responsibilities to pay attention to and when. If you only managed your time, you would not align difficult tasks with your peak energy level rhythms, and easy tasks with your low energy rhythm, and waste your energy, not using it in the most effective way possible.
Lessons from The Expert Himself (Sam Vandekerckhove):
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you’re bound to these pre-set peak periods of energy and productivity either! The beautiful thing about the human condition is that we are adaptable. If you’re wanting to get more out of your mornings, you need to adjust your daily habits to complement such an ideal (likewise with evenings or any other time of day). Think of all of the factors that contribute to your available energy in a given day: Caloric intake, nutrition, sleep hygiene, light exposure, various auditory stimuli (music, sounds, noises), environment (bedroom or Gear Lab), the perceived difficulty of the tasks you need to do, chores, social commitments, exercise/physical activity, leisure activities, etc… And that’s not even an exhaustive list! The purpose of this statement isn’t to intimidate, but rather to illuminate the many options you can explore to adjust your peak energy periods. Modifying what you have for breakfast and when could help stave off a crash before noon (and boosting with lunch can help carry that energy further). Adjusting when you sleep (and improving the quality of that sleep) can make a substantial improvement with how attentive you are for that 8:30AM lecture. Likewise, ensuring a solid bedtime routine (and ritualizing it) can contribute to better shut eye and a more wakeful morning. The list literally goes on and there are perhaps hundreds if not thousands of possibilities you can consider. That being said, when attempting to adjust a status-quo that’s been engrained for weeks, months, or even years, the likelihood of sliding back into old and unproductive modes of operation is high. My advice is to start with one thing – whether that’s what you’re eating, when, when you’re sleeping, when you’re waking, or where – one thing that you can focus on adjusting to that ideal goal or time. When what you’ve adjusted is routinized (more or less consistent each day without much effort), move to the next. The slow start helps to ensure that we’re not overcommitting ourselves by overhauling too much while giving us confidence that more success can be achieved with continued effort. Embrace your ability to adapt!
Where to Start:
Okay, so now you've read a new and (hopefully) interesting strategy to combat your (probably) ineffective habit of trying to manage your time without considering your energy. But what now? As Sam pointed out above, you start with one thing at a time. As with all major habitual changes, trying to do too much at once will likely be overwhelming, and you'll never really make any progress. So instead of trying ot jump into this energy management thing head-on, start by picking one factor we've talked aobut that most appeals to you. Diet change, sleep schedule, bedtime rituals, social commitments are all great places to start, or find one of the many more options to change instead! Take it one step at a time, making your actions very deliberate, focusing on what you want to do and why, and begin to try out this new way of looking at productivity and efficiency.
If you would like to learn more about concepts related to energy management, please check out the links in this article or connect with your Student Wellness Coordinator: ENGWellness@uwaterloo.ca!