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Managing Your Day and Managing Your Week Based on the Energy Requirements Shown in Your “Planner”

11th December, 2009 - Posted by Meggin - No Comments

Think about your energy over the last 24 hours and how it fluctuated. What caused it go up and down during that 24-hour period? Are there similar patterns on other days when you stop to consider this question?

After pondering the previous questions, next, I want you to think about your “projected energy” for the next 24 hours. If you have your planner close by (either digital or electronic), I want you to take a look at it. If you do not have your planner close by (which I would question, “Why?” but that’s another article) try to remember what you have on your docket for tomorrow and think about what kind of energy day it is going to be. Is it a day that is going to require high energy? Is it a day that will replenish your energy? Will there by some of both?

When you look further ahead, you probably see days where you know you have some appointments or projects that immediately bring to mind the thought, “Oh great. I love this!” or “I know this is going to be a good event/appointment/etc.” And, realistically, you may have a few items that are coming up that when you look at then, you think, “Oh brother,” (or maybe some stronger language, which wouldn’t be said in polite company). This may be because you have had experience with the person or the activity that is showing up on your calendar. So, you already know ahead of time what some of your energy requirements will be – both the good and not-so-good ones.

The smart person takes a good look at what is coming up and makes decisions based on that input. For example, you can question the wisdom of stacking up a whole day with one thing right after another.

Let’s say you’ve got five commitments tomorrow, all of which just drain the heck out of you in terms of negative energy. Was that very smart on your part to get all those in there? Or could there have been a way to balance it? Or do you prefer to get all the bad stuff out of the way all at once so you have other days that aren’t “messed up”? It’s your call, in most cases.

I’m not telling you what the right tactic is, but often when I’m talking to people about how to productively schedule their appointments, I suggest,

“If you have to make an appointment with somebody that you know just wears you out, then don’t put somebody else that also exhausts you as the very next appointment”.

You have to have some recovery space in there and it’s smart (and productive) to be paying attention to this as you do your planning.

For those of you who are able to and/or who are charging for your time (vs. being on a salary), take into considerations the “energy requirements” not just the time requirements when you determine your fees. For example, traveling from the West Coast to the East Coast takes a lot more energy than it does for me to travel from here (Reno) to somewhere that is an hour or 1 1/2 hours away. Likewise, pay attention to how working with certain clients affects you. There are some that you think, “Gosh, I would practically pay you to get to work with you because you’re so much fun.” And others, not so much.

So, given what you’re noticing, see if you can re-shuffle some of what is coming up on your calendar so that you can maintain a reasonably-stable level of energy. Keep in mind that,

“Living involved tearing up one rough draft after another.” – Anonymous

Life is all about getting smarter and making those changes that we need to make.

And if you’d like some suggestions for getting smarter and making changes, then join others (worldwide) who receive Meggin’s free weekly emails (and see what is available for download at no cost at the following website):

** I Want to be Just Whelmed (http://www.JustWhelmed.com).

(c) 2009 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., “The Ph.D. of Productivity”(tm).