(February 10, 2025 Newsletter)
“I don’t have the time or energy for that.”
I was appreciative that a client said this a few weeks ago as she described a situation at work because I mostly hear “I don’t have time for that” as an objection.
Just inserting the word “energy” into her comment sparked an important conversation about the distinction, one that I find many leaders don’t think to make (see our recent newsletter on the myth of time management for more on this).
Plus, you can hear Simon Sinek and Dr. Becky Kennedy talking about how misguided the phrase “I don’t have time for that” is in this recent podcast episode.
So, when we say “manage your energy instead,” what are we referring to?
Why it matters
There are multiple kinds of energy that we save up and expend. We have control on both ends – the ways we rejuvenate and the ways we use our energy.
Even if that’s true, many of you feel like the control is in someone else’s hands.
In order to feel like the control is yours, it requires breaking down the energy sources into more specific buckets, diagnosing the gaps, and making plans accordingly. Otherwise, “manage your energy” will continue to feel out of reach.
Four kinds of energy
There’s a brilliant article from 2007 from HBR called “Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time.”
In this article, the authors offer four kinds of energy that we can manage: our body, emotions, mind, and spirit.
Importantly, there’s a diagnostic quiz called “Are You Headed for an Energy Crisis?” that offers statements in each of these four categories. You check the ones that are true and add them up to get a score from “Excellent energy management skills” to “A full-fledged energy management crisis.”
After you take the quiz, the goal is to identify rituals you can set up for yourself to get into better energy management habits.
I want to help you take this one step further with five simple steps.
Rank their importance to you. Once you have a sense of what you want to focus on (the quiz in the article can help), reflect on what energizes you most quickly and is easiest for you to do. Starting with something easier and more meaningful will help get the momentum going so you can move onto objectives that are harder to tackle.
Add a timeframe. As you plan how to become more intentional about regaining and using your energy, determine the length of this project. Is this a 2025 goal? Can you get it under control by the summer? Are parts feasible by the spring?
Add one thing at a time. Once you’ve ranked your objectives and put a timeframe around it, get started with one thing at a time. Trying to sleep more and express appreciation and take breaks between meetings and and and and… it can make you want to shut your laptop screen and do none of it. You can pick a theme for the week or the month – and once you feel you’ve made progress on it, add the next.
Reflect and adjust accordingly. Come up with a system for tracking your progress. Here are some questions you can use: How did it go this day/week/month? What made it possible to stick to my word? What made it challenging to do so? What can I learn from that for the coming day/week/month?
Don’t do it alone. As I so often write in this newsletter (and say to my clients), this is not a solo activity. I recently signed up for a course that has built in “pods” where we meet for a half hour once a week just to talk about how it’s going. It’s been extremely helpful to have that touch point with peers. You can forward this to a work buddy and share your plans with each other, or do so with a trusted family member or friend outside of work.
Final thought: For those of you in people leadership roles, you can help put structure in place for others to rejuvenate as well.
Someone mentioned to me this weekend that in his job he has two 60-minute time blocks built into his schedule a month for “Learn and Grow” time – if he has training modules to do, he can do so then, but if not, he can answer pre-populated journaling questions or just use the time for his own reflection.
If you can set something like this up for your teams, and make it clear that it is NOT time to catch up on a backlog of emails or schedule a meeting they haven’t had time for, it will benefit everyone in the long term.
The Coaching Corner
Post-Super Bowl reflections
Here’s a fun fact that I learned while watching the game last night – Philadelphia Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni was formerly with the Kansas City Chiefs, and Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid was formerly with the Eagles. I think a lot about wanting to have a stellar reputation among my colleagues since we run in the same circles and sometimes have opportunities to collaborate. Think about that for you, as well. What name do you want to establish for yourself among peers and younger stars coming up behind you? What are you doing to advance or undermine it?
I’m sure I’m not the only one who noted A.J. Brown taking out his copy of Inner Excellence after scoring a touchdown. It’s on my reading list now and maybe should on yours too.
Recommendations
Beyond the resources mentioned above, I listened to an excellent podcast episode this past week on Adam Grant’s Rethinking: Fixing the trust crisis with Rachel Botsman.
Also, here’s a great Arthur Brooks article in The Atlantic about moving past small talk for more meaningful interactions.
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