How To Use "Energy Mapping" To Explode Your Productivity
What if I said you could radically improve your IM productivity just by making a few small tweaks to your daily work schedule?
When I adopted the simple strategy I'm about to show you, I saw HUGE gains in my personal productivity, not to mention the enjoyment level of my work day.
I got the idea after reading what has become one of my favorite time management books - "The Power Of Full Engagement" by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz. The biggest takeaway for me was the authors' idea that "time management" is, in fact, an illusion. Time passes at a fixed rate and is therefore impervious to our attempts to control it. What we should focus on instead is "energy management." THAT is the biggest lever we have when it comes to making the best use of the time allotted to us.
In the book, the authors give some very helpful examples of ways to manage your energy, the basic foundation being more frequent meals, working in 90 minute "sprints", creating clear boundaries between work and play, and making rest and rejuvenation a much larger priority than traditional time management theory does.
Based on the ideas in this book, I asked myself what would happen if I made a record of how my own personal energy levels fluctuate throughout the day, then re-arranged my work schedule based on the "energy map" this created.
Well, I found that when I did this, my productivity went through the roof. I was getting twice as much done in the same timeframe, and without the "grind it out" feeling I typically experienced.
If you'd like to try it, I've created a simple "energy map" in excel for you to download and use.
Here's how it works. Start by rating your energy levels on a scale of 1 - 10 for each hour of the day. Once you fill this information in, the chart will display your personal "energy map." Once you see how your energy fluctuates throughout the day, the key is to shift your work schedule around to take advantage of these changing energy levels.
For example, if your creative energy is highest in the early morning, as it is for me, make sure to schedule your product creation, article writing, and other more right-brain, creative tasks for that time of day. If your analytical energy is highest in the afternoon, then you'll want to leverage that by scheduling your book-keeping, reporting, and other more left-brain, analytical tasks for that time of day.
The beauty of this strategy is that you aren't adding more work to your plate... you're simply shifting it around to make better use of your own personal energy patterns!
Here's the download link for the spreadsheet:
http://www.eyeballs2offers.com/free/EnergyMap.zip
I hope that's helpful!
-Bryan
When I adopted the simple strategy I'm about to show you, I saw HUGE gains in my personal productivity, not to mention the enjoyment level of my work day.
I got the idea after reading what has become one of my favorite time management books - "The Power Of Full Engagement" by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz. The biggest takeaway for me was the authors' idea that "time management" is, in fact, an illusion. Time passes at a fixed rate and is therefore impervious to our attempts to control it. What we should focus on instead is "energy management." THAT is the biggest lever we have when it comes to making the best use of the time allotted to us.
In the book, the authors give some very helpful examples of ways to manage your energy, the basic foundation being more frequent meals, working in 90 minute "sprints", creating clear boundaries between work and play, and making rest and rejuvenation a much larger priority than traditional time management theory does.
Based on the ideas in this book, I asked myself what would happen if I made a record of how my own personal energy levels fluctuate throughout the day, then re-arranged my work schedule based on the "energy map" this created.
Well, I found that when I did this, my productivity went through the roof. I was getting twice as much done in the same timeframe, and without the "grind it out" feeling I typically experienced.
If you'd like to try it, I've created a simple "energy map" in excel for you to download and use.
Here's how it works. Start by rating your energy levels on a scale of 1 - 10 for each hour of the day. Once you fill this information in, the chart will display your personal "energy map." Once you see how your energy fluctuates throughout the day, the key is to shift your work schedule around to take advantage of these changing energy levels.
For example, if your creative energy is highest in the early morning, as it is for me, make sure to schedule your product creation, article writing, and other more right-brain, creative tasks for that time of day. If your analytical energy is highest in the afternoon, then you'll want to leverage that by scheduling your book-keeping, reporting, and other more left-brain, analytical tasks for that time of day.
The beauty of this strategy is that you aren't adding more work to your plate... you're simply shifting it around to make better use of your own personal energy patterns!
Here's the download link for the spreadsheet:
http://www.eyeballs2offers.com/free/EnergyMap.zip
I hope that's helpful!
-Bryan
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