🕮 Pull up a chair, it's story time.🕮
Once upon time there was a young woman who worked in a busy media business. She said yes to every task and request for a chat (read vent / offload)
She felt anxiety (ranging from minor to severe) when involved in HR issues, director debates and office politics.
She took in everyone else's energy, didn't have strong boundaries and didn't know how to keep her own energy positive and strong.
She did yoga, she meditated, she worked hard - but she had no balance in her life. It was all extremes.
Extreme work. Intense relaxation. Everything was busy. Including her mind.
She ended up experiencing overwhelm regularly and burning out eventually because she didn't know how to master her energy and work in a way that served herself.
The end.
Well not really the end.
Because in this story the young woman went on to learn mindfulness, apply the tools into her own life and understand fully how to master her energy to work super productively, stay laser focused and feel calm even in a storm.
Does this sound familiar? Does everything in your life feel like it's going at 100 miles an hour even when it's meant to be relaxed, like a yoga class, a run or a walk with the kids?
Hoe even does your energy impact your life or your work? What does it matter what your energy is like if you are doing what needs doing at the time it needs to happen??
Here's the interesting thing - when we we work WITH our energy instead of against it, we can achieve so much more.
At the start of 2021, I was in a storm. Broken nights thanks to a sleep regression, peak lockdown, a clingy toddler and getting a cold. Yet I was the master of my energy.
How?
⚡ Working with your energy starts with understanding what YOUR energy rhythm looks like.
When do you feel most awake?
When in the day do you tend to feel tired/ have a slump?
What does your typical morning look like?
Answering these questions can help you understand what your energy levels are like and when in the day you have the best energy (which means good focus, attention, interest, motivation).
⚡ Plotting your day around your energy (not forcing yourself to have energy for your day - if you're not a morning person be kind and start your day slow if you can!)
Think about when you tend to feel the most awake / alert. This is when you can do your best work - or be the most engaged with your kids. Or do the best workout.
Or it might look like being aware of when your energy dips (4pm slump anyone?) and planning a walk or a break or a workout then to lift your energy back up.
⚡ Knowing what gives you energy and what drains it.
I know what to switch off from (chat groups, FB, unnecessary drama, social media)
I know what boosts my energy (daily walks, meditation, water)
⚡ Scheduling in energy boosters instead of waiting until you have time. Don't wait until the work is finished or the toddler is quiet or the house is clean to do a run if that is the thing that will reenergise you and boost your battery pack. Book it in, block out the time in your calendar, tell everyone in the house.
Be proactive about it rather than reactive.
⚡ Focusing even 50% of your day on working with your energy can make a massive difference to how you feel every day.
💻 Think of yourself like a laptop. You would charge it in the morning (or the night before - good sleep!) and during the day when the battery gets low you would plug it in and charge it. We are the same - we need to recharge our energy throughout the day - we aren't the Duracell bunny!
So I would love to know what's been useful for you.
🌟 If you track your energy levels what is one thing you can notice?
🌟 What's one change you can make to work better with your energy?