It seems so obvious that energy is easier to control than time. By our actions and mindset we determine how much or how little energy we have at any given moment, but time cannot be controlled in the same way. The best we can do with time is to use what we all have in the best way we can, and the best way to use that time is by having the energy available to draw upon.
I have made uncountable lists over the years, and set myself an assortment of goals and challenges, and they have often been helpful in the very short term — minutes or maybe hours if I’m lucky. But without the energy, and the determination, concentration, stubbornness, willingness, and everything else that relies on energy, the lists and goals are only fleetingly helpful. So it seems that it is important for our personal energy to be at an appropriate level for the tasks we wish to accomplish.
It is so easy to lose energy, or for it to dissipate extremely quickly. For example, you may be steaming ahead with a project, knocking off each Next Action quickly and efficiently, and then you are interrupted by a colleague, your concentration is broken, and when you are able to get back to the project your energy level is much lower because of the need to go back to the point you reached before the interruption.
Another example: you are progressing well with a project, energy levels are high, it is all going swimmingly, but then you hit a brick wall — a task involves much more planning before it can be completed, an essential item is missing, an aspect of the project is much more difficult than you realised — and your energy plummets. You suddenly find yourself running through treacle, you can’t push forward, you are stumped. Usually when this happens we leave the task, tell ourselves that we’ll do it tomorrow, and the task subsequently appears on our ToDo list every single day until it is done. Every time you look at your task list you see this task and it nags at you constantly, decreasing your energy even further, daily, continuously, until a point is reached where it either doesn’t matter any more because the opportunity has passed or circumstances have changed, or because you finally do it.
Another example, you start work in the morning, full of positive energy and raring to go. You get so much done and you are riding a high. You work through till lunch and then take a well earned break. You eat your sandwiches or pie, crisps, chocolate bar, maybe some fruit and a dessert. You go back to work but your energy has slumped. You feel tired, your arms are heavy, you decide to play a game of Freecell to get your brain working again. You sit back in your chair and have a ten minute nap. You get to the end of the day, knackered, annoyed that you have wasted the whole afternoon.
So, you cannot get more time, but you can get more energy. Therefore, our focus should be on increasing our energy reserves or energy levels, and on preventing our energy levels from diminishing too much. Of course, we can get out of bed an hour earlier in the morning, and this may appear to give us “more time”, but there are 24 hours in a day and that will never change. We will just be robbing Peter to pay Paul.
So how do we get more energy. How do we stop our energy from dissipating wastefully?
Well, there are lots of ways to get more energy. Correct diet, exercise, sleep, doing things you enjoy, listening to motivational speakers, listening to uplifting music, watching movies with a positive message, avoiding places and people that deplete your energy, time management (or rather, managing your personal resources effectively – resource management), managing stress, and so on (I’ll think of others as I develop this theory over the next few weeks).
Time is a finite resource, and our use of it will be well-served by planning and organizing to a certain extent. But unless you have the energy to carry out your time management plan, it counts for nothing.