Everyone wants to be productive and get their most important tasks done. But when it comes to getting things done, the problem is that most people find it difficult to focus, there are too many distractions, the lack of motivation, unfinished to-do list, or too tired to do their work. Are you in this situation?
If you feel hopeless and wanted to change, or you just want to learn to be more productive and get things done, there is a secret behind being productive that most people never know.
The secret is this – being productive is all about energy management.
If you don’t have the energy, there is no point to having the best time management tools in the world. You will just feel too tired to use the tool, or you don’t even have the energy to apply it.
Time is a finite resource and no matter what you do; you cannot create more time. Everyone has 24 hours a day, and this is a fact that no one can change.
No matter whom you are, regardless of whether you are an entrepreneur, a teacher, an engineer, or even a student, we all have the same amount of time given to us each day.
For students, productivity can be very important too. When students are doing their homework or doing the research paper writing services, productivity plays a vital role.
And for working adults, getting things done throughout the day becomes even more important. Your time is money. And how you use your time shows how much earning potential you have.
The key to getting more productive is in how you manage these 24 hours.
And when it comes to achieving optimum productivity, energy is one of the most important factors that most people underestimate.
Imagine you sleep 6 hours and work 18 hours a day. Do you think you can be productive? Well, you may say that it depends on your energy level.
If you can work for 18 hours straight without feeling tired or exhausted, great. The truth is that most people can’t focus and their energy level will drop throughout the day.
Even if you have the energy to work 18 hours straight, how many days can you last?
Like what famous productivity guru and best-selling author, Michael Hyatt says in one of his blog posts:
“Time is fixed, but energy flexes. Unless you learn to manage energy, you will unknowingly undercut your productivity.”
Recharge your energy to maintain your productivity.
It is just like your phone battery. It is fully charged in the morning, and as you go through your day, you use your energy, and the bar will decrease.
We use energy and willpower in making a decision, in taking action, in talking, walking and in everything. Therefore, we need to learn how to recharge and replenish our energy from time to time so that we have the energy to go on and stay productive.
Most people feel no motivation, tired, sleepy and unproductive in the midday, why? The answer is because they have used up most of their energy and they did not recharge it.
This is especially true after lunch hour. People feel slump due to a heavy meal and their stomach needs to work more to digest the food. It makes them feel tired and sleepy. Motivation and productivity will drop after midday.
So what should you do to overcome this? You learn to maintain and recharge your energy.
1. Take Quick Power Naps
Extraordinary people like Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Leonardo da Vinci and more have been practicing power naps in their lives.
And we can learn from these great people. Studies have shown that taking a quick nap can boost your productivity because you feel fresh and awake after the nap.
You can restore and recharge your energy through power naps.
Now, you don’t have to sleep for an hour, just a quick 15 to 30 minutes nap will do the trick.
In fact, you want to prevent falling into the deep sleep mode where it will make you feel sluggish after waking up. Hence, taking a quick and short nap will be enough.
So whenever you are tired, especially in the afternoon, take a quick power nap. Set a timer to wake you up. You can even make it a routine to utilize its effectiveness fully.
It may be challenging to take a nap when you first started. Even if you just close your eyes and take a rest, it can be very helpful in boosting your energy. Once you have got used to it and make it your habit, you can nap faster and better.
Trust me, I take power nap whenever I’m feeling tired and sleepy. And after every quick nap, I feel totally refresh and ready to take actions to reach my goal again.
2. Move Your Body
Another way to maintain your energy level is to move your body through exercise. Do I still need to remind you that exercise is important to both our physical and mental health?
If you want to know how exercise can increase your productivity, just read this article from LiveStrong.com.
Our body was made to move. Most people sit for long hours facing their computer doing their work these days.
Imagine if you have to sit on the chair facing the computer screen for at least 8 hours a day and you do it for decades, do you think this will affect your health?
The answer is obvious. The key is to learn to move your body every 30 minutes to an hour. Stand up and do some stretching. Walk around and get yourself some water to drink.
You need to schedule breaks between your works if you want to stay and maintain your productivity. Most people don’t bother to maintain their energy, and they’d rather spend time working than taking breaks.
If this is you, you have underestimated the need to manage your energy. When you focus on your work, your willpower will decrease over time, and so with your concentration.
And if you continue without taking any break, you will eventually run out of steam and burnout. You will become exhausted, can’t focus, and your mind will get distracted easily.
So schedule breaks into your day.
3. Pomodoro Technique
Taking breaks between works is important, and this is where the Pomodoro technique comes in. This technique suggests that you work for 30 minutes and take a 5 minutes break.
And then you continue to work for another 30 minutes and take another 5 minutes break. After three work sessions, you should stop for at least a 30 minutes break.
Well, you can customize this technique to suit your work schedule. Instead of working for 30 minutes and take a 5 minutes break, you can choose to work for 45 minutes and take a 10 minutes break.
It is totally up to you how you want to apply this method. Just remember that you need to take breaks between your works to maintain your energy level.
4. Keep Your Body Hydrated
Do you know that up to 60% of your body is water? Well, your brain and heart are composed of 73% water, your lungs are about 83% water, your skin contains 64% water, and even your bones have 31% water.
So keeping yourself hydrated at all times is extremely important. It is recommended that an average adult should drink about 2 liters or eight 8-ounce glasses per day.
Dehydration makes you feel exhausted. This is why if you want to maintain your energy level and allow yourself to perform at optimum level, drink more water.
It is a wise move to keep a water bottle on your working desk so that you can drink some water whenever it is convenient.
5. Create Your Win First Thing in the Morning
How you start your day will determine how you go through your day. We all know that morning time is important because it can influence our mood and hence, our productivity level throughout the day.
Therefore, it is better to create your first win as early as possible.
Start your day by doing an important task that will give you the most result. Once you have completed the task, it gives you a sense of accomplishment and boosts your energy level to the peak.
In his best-selling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, the author Steven Covey mentioned that one of the principles to become effective is the habit of putting first thing first.
There is a great metaphor to illustrate the importance of creating your first win or doing the important things first:
Imagine that you have a pile of sand, small rocks, big rocks, and a jar to fill the sand and the rocks. If you choose to put in the sand and the small rocks first, you will find that you don’t have enough space to put in much of the big rocks.
But if you choose to put in the big rocks first, and then the small rocks and the sand, you will discover that the sediment will settle in the cracks of the big rocks, which allow you to fill in everything into the jar.
And your life is like the jar. You need to attend the big things (big rocks) first before you put your focus on the small things (sand and small rocks).
If you attend to the small, tiny, and menial things first in your day, you will use up most of your energy and ended up having no more energy to get to the big and important tasks. Do you get it?
Hence, use your energy for the most important and big tasks in the morning. Create your win first before you shift your focus to other smaller tasks.
Conclusion
Productivity is all about managing your energy. You want to make your waking hours quality and productive instead of being tired, feeling lethargic and have no motivation to do your work.
When you have the energy, you can be productive. What is there to talk about being productive when you feel tired, exhausted, and sleepy?
First, learn to manage your energy and then you can manage yourself and your time to get the most things done.
So how do you manage and maintain your energy level throughout the day?
Share with me in the comment section below. And if you like this article, remember to share and enlighten others too.
such very use full information.
great work.
keep it up.