How to Keep Energized to Increase Productivity
Recently, we talked about how to differentiate ourselves among the thousands of professionals across your company and the marketplace adopting the Three Main Rules.
In a continuous way towards the differentiation and also looking for high performance at work not harming your life outside your job – yes, there is life, much more than your work, I bet with you – this article will describe quick and useful tips to improve your performance thru your energy.
Years ago – almost a decade in fact – the company gave us the opportunity to have a time management training developed by Mr. Stephen Covey – a master, guru, author of many best-sellers, I am sure that you know who am I talking to, otherwise google it… – and they presented a lot of techniques about how to maximize your time, use tools such Microsoft Outlook in a smart way, quick tips and so on. But they missed just two things: they did not talk about focus and nothing about that we are human beings and this means that we have needs, such water, lunch, bio breaks and so on and more than that, we have to manage our energy.
Almost a year ago during a training I was invited to share some best practices about how to harness your energy to increase the productivity. And this speech was about how to manage your energy and not your time. And have a good energy management is the real key for a high performance professional.
Let’s see some tips to help you to manage your energy.
Focus
Create a to-do list in a paper every week and then follow thru every day the list. I’ve tried to use the Outlook but realized that sometimes we need to close the email app to dedicate 100% focus in a task. Putting focus in a task means that you are concentrating all your energy to complete the task and after you complete, there is something called “power of completion” and this is good for your body and mind since this will make you feel better and ready for the next one. So, focus and one action after another.
Strategic Disengage
After you complete a task, disengage and clear your mind to the next task. This will help you to kind of power up your mind to re-focus. Ways to disengage is to momentarily surf the internet, read some news, walk a little bit, make some calls to people that work with you just to say hi, grab a coffee. A good strategic disengagement should last between 10-20 minutes.
Plan your schedule
Use the Outlook schedule at your favor and not against you. Also, I am not saying to you to block your whole day – by the way, this is horrible, because you cannot find a window and then you need to ask for time – and indeed asking you to plan better your time, doing that will save energy to you. See below some tips for your schedule:
Work hours: if you normally works from 8 AM to 5 PM, set the work hours in the Outlook Calendar, people will kind of respect you calendar, we are more and more globalized so, time zones today is a big challenge.
Transfers: to the office and from the office – like 7-8 AM and 5-6 PM. Why not tell anyone that you are in transit?
Lunch time: you need one hour to lunch even if you “eat” in 20 minutes, take your time, walk a little bit and get ready for the “second half”. This will make a huge difference in your day;
E-Mail slots: create 2-3 slots with 30 minutes duration during the day for you to be focused on emails.
To Do Tasks: create specific windows in your schedule for critical tasks such follow-ups or develop that executive presentation, etc.
Drink water
Your body is 75% water and it’s so important you keep hydrating it, so, have a big bottle of water in your cube and keep filling up at least twice a day. This will help you literally to clear your mind and be energized for your tasks.
Hope these quick tips help you to manage your energy and perform better at work and mainly in your life.