Why Energy Management is Often More Important Than Time Management

What’s the secret to getting as much done as possible?

For many of us, the answer seems like it should have to do with time management. If only you could squeeze a little more time out of your day, then you could probably find more space in your schedule to do all those other exciting things you want to do.

Right?

The most extreme example of this is something called “polyphasic sleeping”. Here, people who want to absolutely optimize the amount they can get done will actually stop sleeping for 8 hours a night. Instead, they aim to sleep for under an hour a time throughout the day. In doing so, they are then able to spend less total time sleeping and get more time to themselves during the evening. The only problem? They’re exhausted.

And this really is the problem with most attempts at time management.

Time is Not the Problem

Ask yourself why you haven’t done all the things you want to do. Why haven’t you set up that side business? Why don’t you keep the house tidier? Why haven’t you gotten into the shape you want to be?

You might assume that the answer is related to time but in fact it’s much more likely that it’s to do with energy.

In fact, if you look back over the last few days, then you’ll probably find that you had no shortage of time available. Perhaps you spent some time watching TV? Maybe you spent some time getting up slowly in the morning? Perhaps you took a while getting started at work.

All of that is time that you could have spent doing the other things that you wanted to do. So what’s the problem? The problem is that you simply lacked the energy to do those things and you lacked the will power. And guess what? Will-power is related directly to energy. The tireder you are, the harder it is to convince yourself to do things you’re not really in the mood for.

And what all this means is that you’re not going to be productive to your fullest until you learn to manage and optimize your energy levels. Energy is finite and you need to think hard about how you’re going to get the most from yourself without burning out.

Perhaps the best place to start is by looking at activities, foods and other things that can help boost your energy levels!