I recently saw a post on Linkedin by Reshma Saujani; she is the founder and CEO of Moms First and of Girls who Code. I read her book Brave Not Perfect: Fear less, Fail More, and Live Bolder last year.
She has another book out recently Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work (and Why It’s Different Than You Think) that’s on my reading list…But this post struck me, and I wanted to share.
“Happy #FailureFriday. So my coach shared a powerful quote with me. She said successful people manage their energy, not their time. It made me realize that I have been doing it all wrong. I have always been meticulous about my schedule. I have always been trying to manage my TIME. Trying to squeeze as much in my day as possible. Taking the red eye to do drop-off. Canceling lunch so I could do three 20 minute meetings instead. Building rest time into my calendar. For as long as I have been leading, I have been managing my time. The consequence is that my body has gotten comfortable with going hard and then crashing to rest. But during all of this time of managing my life this way, I had failed to ask myself a basic question: how do I feel? What does my body need.? Who do I need to spend time with to find joy, learn or be inspired? Packing it all in so you can do more, means that even if you schedule rest or play: the movie, the date night, the girls trip — if your energy is low, you won’t enjoy the rest or play. So here is to thinking about how you can manage your energy and not your time, and what that means to pack in less so that you can live more.”
Reshma Saujani
But I think many of us get into the trap of managing our time based on productivity. It’s the capitalism we’ve been raised in to want to be the most productive and “use our time wisely”— so we often sleep less, exercise less, eat fast food, and cut out personal time in the name of productivity. And then crash, forcing ourselves to “take a rest.”
Focusing on time from a productivity standpoint often becomes a lose-lose situation. On one hand, once fatigued, things simply take longer… then the focus intensifies on what can be done in the allotted amount of time left. If you are like most of us, the renewed focus (at the expense of our energy) somehow allows the rest to get done in shorter amounts of time than previously allotted (perhaps poorer quality and more exhausting), but when it happens time over time– that’s the new amount of time that we give ourselves for the next go-round.
It becomes a corporate take-over of our schedule and lives, completely productivity based, leaving most of us depleted of energy and of the joy that perhaps once came from the initial activity. It reminds of the productivity model that is burning out so many doctors. Who ever thought 15 minutes should be the right amount of time for a primary doctor’s visit to evaluate current status, manage chronic conditions, and talk about prevention… let alone document and chart?! It’s actually absurd when we step back. And then we wonder why patients and doctors alike are so sick of the whole system.
Getting back to the point: I think it’s more about using our time wisely, managing our time and energy so we are well-resourced. This of course means using time to recharge, and the activities (or lack of) will of course change in different seasons of our life.
But I think it’s crucial to make TIME for the recharge.
And TIME for what you need and want.
Hell, you may just need to make time to consider your needs and wants!
But you first have to step off the hamster wheel of productivity.
I agree that it often starts with the basics: how do I feel? What do I need (right now)? Who do I want to be around? Truly connecting to yourself and then listening.
I think it’s crucial to set aside time—and to not only build it into our busy lives but to also ask ourselves how we feel and what we need in that time: how/what/who recharges me? Right now, what do I need? And then, perhaps most importantly, to listen rather than push through until the next arbitrary deadline.
When we care for ourselves, nourishing and replenishing our energy– it’s a different life we get to live.
So YES, I fully agree with Reshma and her coach; we definitely need to manage our energy, but a big part of that for me is making sure I give myself time to do so.
Heidi
P.S. If you are struggling to manage your time or energy, sign up for a quick consult call. This is exactly what I designed my Unlocking Free Time course for. It’s about reclaiming your personal time and become the CEO of your time.
