For any of you that have been to any of our workshops, one area we talk about ALL the time is Energy. It is one of the foundations to physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.
The energy we have directly impacts how much we do and how we feel every day.
Think of it like a jug of water. The more water you’ve got in the jug at the start of the day and top it up throughout the day, the more water you can use throughout the day without feeling empty. If you’ve not kept your jug of water topped up throughout the day, you’ll notice it when you need a boost of energy.
When we’re running on empty we feel lethargic and this not only impacts our thoughts, it impacts our bodies. Without energy, we are less resilient and we are far more likely to pick up viruses and get ill. It all influences the way we think, our health, our mood and happiness.
So there are two areas that I want to cover: Using the energy we have and getting more energy.
Using the energy we have
When we looked at rhythm, we briefly touched on finding a rhythm that works for you. Think about what your energy levels are like throughout the day. Are you an early bird or a night owl or somewhere in between?
We often pick up approaches to work based on what those around us do which is a great starting point but it doesn’t take into account that we are each different. So if your manager always goes through emails first thing in the morning but you have a high burst of energy first thing in the morning, you don’t want to be doing emails!
Use those high boosts of energy to tackle those tasks that take a bit more brain power and are a bit more of a challenge. Then you can plod through your emails when you have a bit of an energy slump.
If you can harness your energy levels then you can make things less stressful (well what you’re doing is improving your resilience and therefore your ability to cope with the stressor). We still might have to tackle the home-schooling, the painfully long conference calls and all the other challenges with balancing our new at home lives but you might even be able to fit a workout in if you know when you have the most energy.
Getting more energy
Nutrition is naturally very important and what we put in our body will directly impact what we get out of our body.
Think about the types of food you are eating and the times you are eating. If you get to start a get an energy slump in the mid-afternoon, have a look at what food you ate for lunch and whether that heavy food that requires a lot of digestion is giving you the best chance of tackling that budget in the afternoon.
But it goes way beyond nutrition, some people also get energy from other people. Those extroverts amongst us will get a little boost of energy when they spend time with people and us introverts will in fact lose energy when they’re interacting with lots of people so think about who you might be? You might not have any choice about how much you speak to other people as part of your role but you can think about what time of the day you can schedule those tasks. If you gain energy from others, try to speak to people when you’re starting to decline in energy so it picks you back up again.
We only have one area left to cover in our Thrive not Survive programme which is Connection, look out for that next week. Get in touch to tell us how you’re Thriving.
I want to Thrive not just Survive.
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