"Where did the time go?" "If only I had more time!" If you're looking for productivity hacks or time management tips – this episode is for you.
We've all been there. We believe time is our most valuable resource. Unfortunately, this often leads to overwhelm and guilt when our expectations don't match reality. We don't accomplish as much as we thought we would, our "to do" list keeps growing, and discouragement creeps in.
What if there was more to time management than meets the eye? Is time truly our most valuable resource? Listen in as we rethink time management. 🌟
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Energy vs. Time: We often fall into the trap of thinking that if we just had more time, we could accomplish everything on our to-do list. However, as we discussed, even with the same 24 hours in a day, our energy levels can significantly impact our productivity. When we're feeling drained or unwell, even the simplest tasks can feel overwhelming. Instead of solely focusing on time management, we should prioritize managing our energy levels to maximize our effectiveness.
Quality Over Quantity: It's not just about how much time we have; it's about how we use that time. When we're in a state of flow and high energy, we can accomplish tasks in a fraction of the time it would normally take. We encourage listeners to recognize when they're in that productive state and to allow themselves the flexibility to dive deep into tasks that energize them, rather than sticking rigidly to a time-blocked schedule.
Know Your Energy Drains and Fuels: Understanding what drains your energy and what fuels it is crucial. We discussed the importance of being aware of our strengths and how working within those strengths can help us maintain our energy levels throughout the day. By identifying tasks that energize us and scheduling them during our peak energy times, we can create a more productive and fulfilling workday.
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Assess Your Energy Levels: Regularly check in with yourself to determine your current energy levels. If youAsk yourself, "Given my energy level, what is the best use of my time?"
Identify Energy Drains and Fuels: Make a list of tasks or activities that drain your energy and those that fuel you. Schedule draining tasks during times when your energy is naturally higher, and plan to engage in energizing activities when you feel low..
Create Flexible Time Blocks: While time blocking can be effective, allow for flexibility in your schedule. If you find yourself in a productive flow, consider extending the time for that task instead of sticking rigidly to your planned blocks.
Leverage Your Strengths: Identify your strengths and find ways to incorporate them into your daily tasks. Engaging in work that aligns with your strengths can help maintain your energy levels and enhance productivity.
Further Reading: Check out the book Soar With Your Strengths by Dr. Clifton to learn more about the Five Clues to Talent.
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Lisa:
Hey, I'm Lisa.Brea
And I'm Brea.
Lisa
And today's topic is time and energy. More specifically, this question. Is your time your most valuable resource? What say you, Brea?
Brea
No, absolutely not.
Lisa
I asked you knowing your answer.
Brea
Also, hi everybody. How's it going? Here's the thing is that I'm going to tell you how I really feel because I feel really passionately about this. I hear it all the time from people. Time is your most valuable resource. I just don't think it's true. I just don't think it's true.
Lisa
You know, I'm guilty of even feeling it or perceiving it and thinking those thoughts where I'll be like, Oh, I wish I had more time. Oh, I'm out of time. Oh, there's I just need more time. Or I'm so overwhelmed. If I just had more hours, that feels like the solution is time. And if I asked myself the question philosophically, like we're doing on this podcast, I would tell myself, It's not. There are better ways to manage because ultimately, we're talking about time management, energy management, productivity, goal management. Those are usually the topics that surround this conversation about time. And it feels like a time management thing. And it feels like a solution for overwhelm is to magically get more hours.
Brea
Yes, I think we all fall into that trap of thinking that we need more time. If I only had more time, then I could fill in the blank. But Beyonce only has 24 hours a day. The president only has 24 hours a day. We all only have 24 hours a day. When you're sick, especially when you're sick as an entrepreneur, an hour is very, very valuable resource. Yes. But if you're sick and you don't have the energy to maximize that hour, that is such a huge detriment.
Lisa
I could just make a proof point with your energy management point. I've been sick lately and this sinus infection cold something or other has been getting me down. And I about, you know, two to three o'clock every day, I am getting extremely tired where I feel like I need to go to bed for the evening. I'm like, oh, don't take my hours. I need more hours. But actually, it absolutely proves your point. What is the problem when this is happening at two or three o'clock? I have no energy. And when I have no energy, everything moves at a different pace. And it is like Time is well, it's sort of like it's flying by because I don't have it to work But the truth is it's just energy if I had high energy and I were totally in flow I could get a ton accomplished and I would look up and be like, whoa I didn't know six hours passed by and I just accomplished the 40 things on my list But in when my energy is low or off it just brings this perception of time. That's totally different. It's like, oh, I wish I had more time or time feels so scarce. But how is it for you as far as time and energy and the way they might play with each other?
Brea
It's interesting to think about how just about how energy affects the quality of our time, right? Not just in managing our time well, but in how we approach that. So if we're in the flow, like you said, it's easy to lose track of time. That could also be a detriment to us though. If time management is our goal, right? If we lose track of time, then we're not really managing our time very well.
Lisa
Right?
Brea
So, yeah. So there's an element of, like, it's good when we've got a lot of energy, we can maximize our time, but only if we pair that with intentionality and good time management skills or whatever. So it's not just as simple as saying, you know, there's one solution.
Lisa
Yeah. Oh, quality. You just hit on the number one item. But then when you said flow, but what if you disrupted your flow because you were so intent on time management, and that you had only blocked 20 minutes for a given thing, that you disrupted the energy that you had for something, like sometimes it's actually great to clear your calendar and say, I am so in the flow and my energy is so directed positively toward this thing right now that I'm just going to give it the next eight hours because it's more than I could accomplish in six days combined. Because sometimes you're just feeling it. And when you are, you're writing your energy management really intelligently. And that is a way better way to look at productivity than totally time management. Yeah. Oh, so smart.
Brea
Well, you know, that's why they pay me the big bucks. Come on. Here's the thing about paying attention to the quality as well. When we don't have the energy, when we're feeling sick, when our energy is lower, we can get in our head about that, right? So our quality of time comes down, our productivity is lessened, it's challenged, because the whole time that we're doing the thing, we're thinking, oh my gosh, I just really don't feel good. Just go take a nap, just go take a nap, okay? Do whatever you need to do, Because otherwise, we're getting in our own way. And so I think when we feel better, we do better, right? Isn't that what we always say?
Lisa
Yeah, there's the Brea-ism right there. And I think it makes your point really well to the energy management, time management conversation. Because if I were thinking through the lens of time management, which I am guilty of having done in these last days of feeling like this, I am like, ugh, I just need to get through two hours of work to get the bare minimum accomplished to answer customers' questions or whatever. But actually, if I would stop and think of energy management, I would go take the nap. And then maybe 30 minutes later, I would have rejuvenated myself so that I could get three, four more hours of time where I'm feeling decent, and my brain's working better. And it is always a worthy thing to stop and look at and say, am I only managing time? What if I managed energy? What would it look like right now? And if you're aiming toward a certain goal, certain productivity, or just literally, like, what are those four critical things that have to get done? If you ask yourself, I look at this through the energy management lens, what would happen right now? You're gonna have solutions that you wouldn't otherwise.
Brea
So this is so, so interesting what you're bringing up. You know, the coach in me asks the question, well, why do you think you need two hours to do these things? And I'm going to do the non-coach thing and I'm going to answer my own question. I think it's probably because in the past, when you've been at full health, It has taken you about two hours. You know, you know about the time that it takes to do the emails or whatever it is that you need to do for your customers, but you're not in good health. you're not the same as you were yesterday or, you know, are usually. And so it might actually take longer. So are we expecting things of ourselves when when we're not setting ourselves up for success by filling our energy tank? Right. We're setting us up to fail because we're expecting things of ourselves that we can't deliver and we know we can't deliver. But we're allowing the past to dictate now. And it's just so sad. Why do we do that to ourselves?
Lisa
This is so true. I was feeling guilty yesterday for the lack of productivity and it's exactly what you just said. I have an expectation of myself of what it could take, should take, normally takes, and it isn't taking that. And then I am feeling guilty because I'm not getting it out in the time that I expected. So now I'm not meeting my own expectations. And I always talk to people about conflict where the lack of alignment with expectations is what is a root of conflict. And now you just explained it in a way where it's like, yes, this is the conflict you're having inside of your brain with yourself because you're not meeting your own expectations.
Brea
Totally. And I think it stems from the days when I know I've worked in positions where I'm compensated on an hourly rate, right? I have to account for my time because that's how I get paid is by the hour.
Lisa
Oh, interesting thought. Like a root. Like goes back to the first jobs you have often are hourly and therefore you train yourself in this way from the beginning.
Brea
Right. I mean, I have not worked an hourly job, you know, or been paid an hourly rate for a long time. But there is, I think, still that root in many of us that it should only take one hour or it should only take two hours because we we have to move fast. You know, we have to get so many things done. We have to, like, fill our hours. You know, Lisa, I know this about you. I know that you try to work a three day work week. as much as you can. And that is so amazing. And so I can imagine it would feel very challenging to see, gosh, I just can't work as fast or I can't work at my capacity that I normally do because you have such a limited number of hours that you're working anyway, right?
Lisa
Yeah, not to mention, if you take what you just said and then add on the fact that if you are ill, Adding each of those three days and turning them into 12-day work, 12-hour work days is not going to happen because your body is going to say, no, thanks. And then also that I am a time blocker. My time management style is time blocking. And I typically account for every waking hour of my day with things on my calendar blocked out, usually three weeks in advance, what I'm doing every hour of every day, not on the weekends, but I block out big chunks of time for things. Like if we're going on a camping trip like we are this weekend, it's not going to break down the activities inside of it, but it is one giant chunk already taken. So when I manage my time like that, it doesn't give me a lot of movement with energy flow. If I need double the amount of hours for something, I've kind of put myself in a box for those next two or three weeks where my time is already accounted for. So then I have to go through those future couple of weeks and push things that are non-critical. And then I get sad that I'm doing that. So that's the reality of how it shows up for me.
Brea
Yes. Yeah, so, okay, so this is all great in theory, you know, we're shining some light on some areas where we can improve. Where do we go from here? What are the answers?
Lisa
Well, some of it is just a realistic question, like the one you answered. Like, even if I said to myself, given the energy I have, or am likely to have today, what is the best use of this time? That's one question I asked myself yesterday and reprioritize the order in which I was doing things. So it was kind of like energy management in a way that was Hey, I've been getting really tired at 3 p.m. So, well, it's noon. I have three hours left. What is most critical? And what can I do while I'm riding this energy wave? So, that's one thing I would offer. Another one would be looking at drains. Like, we've talked a million times about our strengths and weaknesses theories here where, If you're working out of your strengths, they make you feel stronger. If you're working out of your weaknesses, they weaken you. And that corresponds with energy. Strengths work feels strong and energetic. Weakness area work feels weak. weak and de-energizing. So if you find things that are, that you're procrastinating, that you don't want to do, noticing those and not trying to do them when high energy is called for.
Brea
Yep, I love it. So what is the best use of this time? I think that's such a great question, and I love this question because it's so simple. It aligns with the way that we typically approach time management, right? We say, what is the outcome, right? What am I trying to do? And then how do I best use my time to make sure that I get there, right? That I can accomplish the task. So what if we think about our energy in the same way where we say, okay, what is the outcome that I'm looking for? And where's my energy level right now? So what's the best use of this time? not just from a productivity time, but from a time perspective, but from an energy perspective as well. I think adding that lens is so key. Great. And then what are your energy drains? If you're feeling drained, being aware of that, and then also being aware of what fuels you so that you can either fill up your energy before you go into a draining task or a draining time of day, right? If you know that you know, come three o'clock, you're tapping out, then either plan to be tapped out and go to the gym, right, or go do something that fuels you. But definitely, if you know that you're drained at three o'clock, why are we scheduling meetings or saving our boring, like, emails and admins for that time? Like, That's a misalignment of managing our energy and managing our time, right?
Lisa
So there's another kind of physical element to it as well. If I can work outside and sit outside, I'll have more energy than being under LED lights inside of an office space. So a lot of those physical elements can come into play too.
Brea
Totally. So now you're tapping into different types of energy, different sources of energy, right? are physical, are spiritual, are intellectual, relational, and emotional. Those are all five areas where we can gain and drain and it's important to be paying attention to all of them. And I think I mean, this is Lead Through Strengths podcast. We are talking about, you know, strengths and talent. And the reason that we're talking about energy management through that lens is because our talent clues us in to how we are energized or how our energy is drained. And so if you can stay plugged in to your talents all day, then you have that juice. You're plugging into your talents, even in times where the task itself might be draining, or the person that you're with is draining for you, or the environment, the place that you're in is draining for you. If you can plug into your talents, then the juice is still flowing. Even if it's draining faster, it still is plugged in, so it'll drain a little bit slower. And I think that's a huge mindset shift when it comes to how we look at energy, because most of the time we wake up in the morning, we expect that our little energy batteries are going to be full because we've just slept. But I mean, I don't know about you, I don't always wake up with a full battery. But even if we did, we kind of walk through life thinking we'll wake up full and then we just allow ourselves to drain all day. And then we sleep and fill up again and then we do it all over. But why? When we can stay plugged in to the source of our energy. And that's what knowing our strengths helps us do.
Lisa
Mm hmm. I think that's a beautiful way to wrap it up. I mean, you brought all of those elements of energy into focus for people that they probably haven't thought of in ages. So I think that tees up perfectly if they want to work with you and explore more of those kind of elements of their energy. How would someone coach with you?
Brea
I'd love to coach with you. I'd also love to share my energy. I think that's another thing about strengths is that when we are living from our places of strength, we are energizing to others. All the hot coals, they burn hotter when they're together in the fire. So come to my website, www.brearoper.com. Schedule a call.
Lisa
Beautiful. And if you'd like to work with me, Lisa, go over to www.leadthroughstrengths.com and you can go right to the Get Coached link and book a session there. All right, I'll go off and hopefully you can leave this podcast episode and go get that energy recharging up so that it gets to be 2X powerful.
Brea
It's so funny. It's like the more it goes out, the stronger it becomes. If we can look to our talents, we'll recognize that the more you pour out of your strengths, the more full you feel, you know, the more fueled you become. So live your strengths, people. Let's do it.
Lisa
Yes, rechargeable batteries. Beautiful.
“Hard work doesn’t have to feel hard. Tap into the power of your personality for more energy, stronger relationships, & meaningful progress.”
MEET YOUR CO-HOSTS
BREA ROPER
Communication | Woo | Activator | Futuristic | Connectedness
If you need a Strengths Hype Girl, for yourself or your team, connect with Brea at brearoper.com. She’s ready to deliver an inspirational keynote, empowering training, or transformational workshop. If you’re looking for an expert guide to support your internal Strengths efforts, reach out today!
LISA CUMMINGS
Strategic | Maximizer | Positivity | Individualization | Woo
To work with Lisa, check out team workshops and retreats at the Lead Through Strengths site. For 1:1 strengths or life coaching, check out the Get Coached link. For independent coaches, trainers, and speakers, get business tools support with our Tools for Coaches membership.
The Fine Print: This podcast is not sanctioned or endorsed by Gallup in any way. Opinions, views and interpretations of CliftonStrengths© are solely the beliefs of Lisa Cummings and Brea Roper.