How to Use Energy Management To Be Physically and Mentally Productive
To achieve more purposeful energy management in our life, fundamental to that is mastering our biology. And where else should we look but the most elite athletes and the latest in cutting-edge training!
Let’s remind ourselves, we’re looking to have more energy in our day-to-day life so that we can do our activities in more a present and engaged manner. Whether it’s sitting in a meeting or conversating with a friend or enjoying a hard-earned vacation, we want to have enough energy to do those things. As you would expect, I’m deep down the rabbit hole of learning about positivity and productivity. When I’m deep in that rabbit hole looking at how to be like an elite athlete during meetings, it can be hard to dig out to the top, where it ultimately needs to make sense. Because, what good is knowledge if it’s not useful, practical, and relevant?
That’s why as we dig into mastering our biology energy management, I’ll end with a basic and advanced takeaway, in case you want to stay on the surface or dive into the hole with me.
Go max energy rarely, not every day.
In Ryan Holiday’s book, Stillness is the Key, he tells the story of:
“Eliud Kipchoge, possibly the greatest distance runner to ever live, actively works to make sure he is not overworking. In training, he deliberately does not give his full effort, saving that instead for the few times per year when he races. Because he knows that the main cause of injury for elite athletes is not tripping and falling. It’s not collisions. It’s overuse.”
— Ryan Holiday
The greatest long-distance runner doesn’t overuse his superpower. When he’s out there training every day, he gives it what, 70%? 80%? Sometimes 90%? But very rarely does he actually go 100% max energy exertion, which he probably saves for race day.
Translate that into our regular lives, which means in my meetings, I’m giving it 70–90% in each one. Good effort, just not max effort. But for those bigger, important meetings, then yes I’m giving it the full 100% Why is this important? Because like how overuse in running can cause injuries, in our daily life it can cause burnout.
One more point, as we go about building up our energy levels, it’ll be different for each of us. My friend is running 18 miles this morning and that’s his 80%. For me, that would be 800%! So, pay attention to your body and know where you’re currently at. The goal is to over time increase that depth of energy, but still live in the 70–90% range with the rare bust of 100%.
Periodisation for energy management.
Ok, that’s a complicated word. What is periodisation?
“Periodisation is the systematic planning of athletic training and can be broken down into three cycles; Macro, Meso and Micro. The macro cycle is the big picture or long term plan; in Olympic sports it can be a 4 year cycle but mostly it is annually. The meso cycle is shorter, typically around a month and the micro cycle is usually a week.”
— Annastiina Hintsa
Annastiina Hintsa runs Hinsta, “human high-performance coaching” that uses science-based approaches to the business and sports world. Their approach sounds intense! Again, bringing this concept to our normal life, we go from weekdays to weekends, with prob a somewhat set routine. I think the takeaway from periodisation is that on a daily, weekly, and longer-term basis, what is that one thing we are going to strive for 100% max energy level on?
On a daily basis, a few ideas that we could go max energy on are:
- Heart-to-heart conversation
- Solid, uninterrupted meditation session
- Learning a new topic, skill
- And, of course, exercising!
Then on a weekly basis, that could be:
- Several hours for deep work on a project
- Social event where you’re focused on everybody there
- Most important meeting that week
- And, again, exercising!
For the long term, maybe it’s:
- Big presentation that’ll move your career forward
- Bucket-list vacation trip and you totally in the moment to enjoy it
- And you guessed it, exercising!
The bottom line is it’s an interesting idea, right? Elite athletes use short-term building blocks that lead to long-term, big challenges. We all know we can’t swallow the proverbial elephant all at once, we need to take bites. In purposeful energy management, we’re exploring the idea of increasing our physical and mental energy levels by intermittently pushing those limits.
Mindset for energy management.
In discussing the biology of how to increase and manage our energy level, there’s a mental component that is not separate and distinct, as some of the more traditional energy management frameworks state. I think we can all relate to those instances where we go max energy on something, we also go max focus and engagement. That’s why going into a deep work state can be mentally energy draining but increase the depth that we can go the next time. Similar to pushing ourselves when we physically exercise, we find we can run further or lift heavier next time.
Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz have a concept called recovery rituals. It’s the habit of actively recovering, resting between moments of exertion.
“We first understood the power of rituals to prompt recovery by observing world-class tennis players in the crucible of match play. The best competitors, we discovered, use precise recovery rituals in the 15 or 20 seconds between points — often without even being aware of it. Their between-point routines include concentrating on the strings of their rackets to avoid distraction, assuming a confident posture, and visualizing how they want the next point to play out. These routines have startling physiological effects. When we hooked players up to heart rate monitors during their matches, the competitors with the most consistent rituals showed dramatic oscillation, their heart rates rising rapidly during play and then dropping as much as 15% to 20% between points.”
— Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz
My point is to master your mindset when it comes to increasing your energy. Between meetings, you have to be disciplined to go for a short walk versus checking Instagram. Practice being intentional with your rest breaks, so that you can be focused and engaged in the next moment. The result will be more energy, but the mastery will be over your mindset.
Wrapping it up…
I promised you a basic and advanced takeaway at the beginning, so here you go!
My basic advice to increase your energy level is to sleep more and keep notes on how you feel for at least 2 weeks.
“We had a CEO… who was sleeping six hours a night. He thought this was enough. He was performing quite well, leading a large organization, and he thought everything was quote, unquote “fine.” My father challenged him to try and sleep for eight hours a night to see the impact. The executive was shocked. His comment after two weeks was, “Oh my God, I’m seeing colors. For the first time, I am actually seeing colors.””
— Annastiina Hintsa
My advanced takeaway is actively back off from giving 100% to everything. You simply can’t because it leads to burnout. Instead, pick and choose when and where you will give 100%. This may sound easy but is deceptively hard. Why? Because for people like us, it’s hard not to give it all, all the time. That’s just who we are and how we’ve gotten this far, but to get to the next level like an elite athlete, we have to utilize our energy smarter.
References
- Stillness is the Key by Ryan Holiday: Book Summary, Key Lessons and Best Quote
- Managing Energy and Effort for Optimal Performance — Learnings from Professional Athletes by Dan Sims
- How wellbeing improves performance: An interview with Annastiina Hintsa
- The Making of a Corporate Athlete by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz
