How to have energy left at the end of the day
Last week I shared my thoughts about Robert K. Cooper’s book “High Energy Living”, and promised to give examples of some of his tools and techniques. One of them starts at the beginning…of our day that is.
How do you start your day?
The vast majority of us would describe it with one adjective: rushed. That’s how I did it for most of my working life. After all, I was tired and so I waited as late as I could to get up to get as much sleep as possible. Even after I realized that I didn’t enjoy being in a mad frenzy and set my alarm a little earlier, I still felt rushed because there never seemed to be an end to what needed to be done before heading out the door.
I remember sitting around with colleagues one day and the subject turned to how nice it would be to be retired so that we wouldn’t have to rush around in the morning.
Two things jump out at me about this conversation:
- That we were wishing our lives away, wanting to be older to escape the work pressures.
- And that of all the many benefits of not having to work, a leisurely start to our day topped the list. So we intuitively know how important it is.
Dr. Cooper says that: “Amazingly, researchers can predict how much energy someone will likely have in late afternoon and evening by measuring that person’s behavior patterns in the morning. You essentially make a choice for your entire day by the way you get up in the morning and by what you do - or don’t do - in the first hour or so after rising. ”
Basically, being in a mad rush first thing in the morning sends a warning to your body that it better brace itself for more to come, so we end up in a state of tension that depletes us before the day is done. We also operate in battle-mode which is detrimental to our health, and our productivity (I’ll say more about that at another time).
My experience taught me that just waking up 15 minutes earlier isn’t enough of an answer; it often ends up being just an extra 15 minutes of running around or mental tension. Instead, we need to have a routine that sets the stage for the rest of the day.
Many people balk at that because they assume I’m talking about meditating. That’s too much of a stretch for most people and my routine doesn’t include sitting cross-legged clearing my mind for 15-30 minutes. Dr.Cooper’s suggested morning routine doesn’t either.
Here are a few possibilities you might want to incorporate:
- Select an alarm clock that doesn’t jar you awake. Even if you are a heavy sleeper, there are many models available now that start off with a softer tone and increase it only if you don’t respond.
- Instead of jumping out of bed with an adrenaline rush, take a few deep breaths and consciously stretch and relax your muscles. (If you’re worried about falling back asleep, do this while sitting or standing by your bed).
- Mental relaxation is also highly recommended and I teach a number of quick techniques. Just noticing any mental tension and telling yourself that the problems can wait just a little longer, is a start.
- You may not have the time or inclination to go jogging, but even a few minutes of light movement will help improve your bodies’ functioning for the whole day.
- As much as possible, expose yourself to natural light.
- And have some nutrition (yes, breakfast, and not a donut). It doesn’t have to be a lot, but there is too much scientific evidence that breakfast helps with energy levels and weight control to go against that advice.
Do I hear protests that this will take too much time? How much time do you think it takes: 30 minutes?
That would be ideal, but you can do a decent job with even 15 minutes. And trading 15 minutes of sleep for being a lot less tired during the day seems like a good decision to me.
This is not a blog about nutrition, but since breakfast brings up such a mental roadblock for some people, it might be helpful to list some quick suggestions in the next post.
Most of us don’t believe that we can feel fully alive
The shockingly sad and true post title is a quote from a book called “High Energy Living” by Robert K. Cooper. Most of us accept this either because we’ve forgotten what it feels like to really feel good, and/or because we don’t know how we can change.
Sure we can reduce stress for a while, go on vacation or even, if you want to get fancy, do biofeedback sessions, but those things don’t last; they don’t solve most of our lives. We know this from experience.
We also believe that we don’t have space in our schedules to squeeze in time for stress-reducing practices. If we tried to meditate, a lot of us would probably spend the time going over our to-do lists. Dr. Cooper acknowledges that reality and suggests a number of techniques that can be fitted into our modern lives.
According to the author, we have more than one kind of energy. Here are the four that he lists, along with their opposites:
Calm (being in the flow; low tension and high energy) vs. tense (caffeine and adrenaline -deadline rush) energy
Active (alert, resilient, and moving) vs. reserved (immobile) energy
Sensory (present, aware, engaged in life) vs. routine (in a rut) energy
Heartfelt (meaningful) vs. surface (shallow) energy
To revitalize our life, we need to the levels of all four energy types, and Dr. Cooper gives 21 different tools to do so. I’ll give examples of these tools in the next posts.
How to get more freedom on the job
Most of us feel like we can’t buck the trend in our work cultures. For example, there is no way we could take time for exercise at lunch if everyone else is eating at their desks. We would be labelled as “slackers” and be blackballed when it comes to promotions. So we let our health (and our bellies) go to pot.
Jim Loehr is a well-known peak performance expert, and in his latest book called “The Power of Story”, he talks about how a group of senior engineers resisted his advice to take time to exercise and move during the day, because it wouldn’t be acceptable in their company’s culture. Never mind all the evidence that it would make them more productive.
Then Jim asked a question that got their creative thinking in gear: “What if your boss put you in charge of changing the corporate culture to support employee wellness. What would you recommend?” They came up with numerous ideas, many of which could be implemented by individuals right now in their current conditions.
Not only that, but a few of the engineers were already living their day as if they weren’t prisoners of the corporate culture. They were taking time for exercise and being present for their families. And their careers hadn’t suffered.
It’s wise to work in organizations that suit our values and temperament. But if we happen to be at odds with the prevailing culture in a certain area, we might find that we have more freedom of choice than we thought. How do we protect ourselves from backlash?
By being aware of the organization’s goals and needs and its specific expectations from our job. By making sure we are meeting them. And if necessary, by reassuring our boss that we are on the ball.
Going back to the example of wanting to exercise in an office where working through lunch is taken as a sign of committment. One tactic would be to just go ahead and exercise, then make sure we keep our boss abreast of results so that he/she can see that our work is still satisfactory. (Chances are, it will be better since exercise makes us more energetic, focused and productive.)
Another option would be to let our boss know what we are doing, highlighting the productivity benefits of the exercise break, and providing reassurance that we are keeping the company goals foremost in mind.
The main point is: the more we show our awareness of and alignment with the organization’s needs, the less they’ll care about the minute details of how we will get them done.
Is it possible to act purposefully in the corporate world?
My last two posts were recollections of times when I and another exec. acted a little blindly to further the company’s interests, pushing ourselves or others beyond what should have been expected. At the time, we both thought we were being good corporate warriors worthy of praise, to which we would have replied:”Just doing my job.”
Fact is, most of us didn’t get the praise but we’re pretty sure we would have been criticized if we hadn’t gone the extra mile. So how could we have broken the “expectation mold” without causing ourselves some career grief?
There are two parts to answering this question. The first involves making a choice, the second, managing that choice. To make a choice, we first have to be aware there is a choice to be made.
Let’s face it, a lot of the time we drive ourselves at full speed throughout the day, taking one action after another, without really asking ourselves whether we are making the best choice. Sure at one point we might have gone through a formal or informal planning exercise, but then our focus turns to meeting goals and getting things done. We don’t have time to constantly second guess ourselves. Not only that, wouldn’t appearing indecisive be the kiss of death to our reputation?
True, but the corporate culture has tended to glorify the decisive, quick-on-the-draw archetype to its detriment. Managers of all levels tend to forget “why” they are taking the actions. What are we wanting to accomplish here? Not just at a superficial level, but also ultimately.
Only when we stay aware of the “why’s”, can we spot the times when the course of action is no longer advisable or when it serves the superficial purposes to the detriment of the ultimate ones.
I know that if I could relive my career, I would make sure to never start a day without reflecting on my (and my employer’s) goals and on how my day’s action plan serves them. I would think of the “whys” rather than mainly the “hows”. No matter how rushed I feel.
Sounds simple, but resisting being pulled into the vortex of frenetic activity (or frenetic thinking) isn’t easy. It’s a discipline and a mindset.
Ok but what if my reflection leads me to a conclusion that would go against the usual grain of my corporate culture?
As they say on TV, to be continued…on the next post.
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