Time management has been a concept for years—planning your activities better to avoid chaos. There’s nothing inherently wrong with it. However, time is not a stretchable concept; there are 24 hours in a day, some of which we need to spend sleeping, leaving us with a fixed amount. What if the things you want to do don’t fit into the hours you have? What if every Friday night, you find yourself exhausted on the couch, wondering why you have no energy left?
I’d like to replace the term “time management” with “energy management.” It’s about achieving a good balance between activities that give you energy and those that drain it. If you have a busy week, it’s not a problem if there are enough activities that serve as an energy source. For example, an evening on the racing bike is intense, but it also provides me with a lot of energy. And what about a dinner with friends? Often, I wake up the next day with a smile, ready to face the day with renewed energy.
If you find that you have few of these energizing activities and most of your activities are energy-draining, it might be a good time to consider eliminating some of those energy drainers. Think about the activities that put a smile on your face. Can you schedule more of these activities to boost your energy? I often encounter people who realize that they don’t gain any energy from their job. This is a significant time investment. It’s worth considering why you are still in this line of work and whether there might be other possibilities. It’s not something that can be resolved overnight, but being aware of it is the first step towards something new.
Wishing you lots of energy!