Maximize Your Time

Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, You, Me, we all have the same number of hours in a day: 24. Not a thing to be done about that until someone comes up with an app for that! Until that happens, we can turn to the book “The Power of Full Engagement” by Tony Schwartz and Jim Lohr.

In their book they talk about the discoveries made through their work with elite athletes and high level CEOs to achieve peak performance. They posit that the impact that we have on time is not the amount we have, but the energy that we bring to the time that we have. Maximizing time is maximizing energy.

These are the four areas in which we can maximize time by renewing and expanding our energy:

1- The Mind
This is the energy of focus. Multi-tasking undermines energy and increases the time it takes to complete a task by 25%. We are all subject to electronic interruptions (email, phone).
Systematic focus on the most important task maximizes the energy of the mind. Prioritize your tasks every day and ala Brian Tracey, “eat the biggest and ugliest frog first”.

2-The Body
Physical energy is depleted by inadequate sleep, poor nutrition, and a lack of exercise.
Enough sleep, healthy eating and exercise renew physical energy. During the work day regular breaks revive us. Even a few minutes can be a reviving break, as long as it is a full disengagement from work. Human beings are naturally sprinters, not marathon runners.

3-Emotions
Emotions, and particularly negative emotions, affect the quality of our energy. Become aware of how you feel, what events trigger your feelings and the impact of your feelings on your work. Don’t allow yourself to be a victim. Choose another lens through which to view your emotions:
Reverse lens-what would the other person say
Long lens-how will I look at this in 6 months
Wide lens-what can I learn from this situation
Make your emotions positive and empowering.
Expressing detailed and specific gratitude and deep breathing is a couple of strategies to deal with emotions.

4-The Spirit
This is the energy of meaning and purpose. Effectiveness and satisfaction come from aligning what you do with what really matters to you, doing what you do best, and practicing your core values in your everyday behavior.
To determine this think about work experiences where you felt most energized and determine what about the experience energized you. Also, ask yourself what qualities you find most off putting in others. The opposite characteristics will tell you what you value the most.

You can expand and renew your energy in any and all of these areas by creating rituals. Pick a specific behavior, commit to when you will start, and if possible, the time(s) of day that you will perform the behavior. Make yourself accountable to someone to stick to it. The results can have an enormously positive impact on your life.

Enjoy the extra time you will have by maximizing your energy!