Equipping young women professionals with young families to find fulfillment, contentment and joy as mothers and home makers without losing sight of who they are as women.

Volume 10, Issue 41: Managing Your Energy Part I

In our attempts to be efficient, most of us generally focus on managing our time. Over time as I have gotten older and found myself with a lot on my plate, my rhythms have revealed to me that my effectiveness is driven just as much by how I manage my energy as by how I manage my time. This philosophy was affirmed recently when I listened to a leadership podcast series on the art of energy management by Craig Groeschel.

No two people are exactly alike in their energy rhythms. What energizes one person is different from what energizes another person. Similarly, what drains one person is different from what drains another person.

Different people are better at some things at some times than others. We are better at certain tasks at certain times of the day or week than we are at doing those same things at a different time. Some people are most productive and driven in the morning and at the beginning of the week while others get bursts of energy later in the day or at night and at the tail end of the week.

Some people like to work under the pressure of deadlines while others like to finish tasks long before there's any deadline in sight. Some people get more energy from being around other people, others get energized from spending time alone. Some people are energized by being outdoors while others are energized by being indoors.

Different tasks or activities use up our energy differently. Some activities fuel us while others drain us. You can spend 3 hours doing something you dread and be totally drained, frustrated and exhausted at the end of it. On the other hand, you can spend 8 hours doing something you enjoy and not get drained at all. You may be physically tired but still driven and excited.

We will talk about my energy rhythms as an example in part II of this series. My rhythms are most likely very different from yours but will help you think of your own rhythms and assess how well you are managing your energy.

There are a couple of different forms of energy that we operate on. The energy forms most of us relate to are physical energy, mental or creative energy, emotional energy and spiritual energy. We will talk about how we refuel these energy tanks in part III of this series.

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi