So when it comes to personal energy management the question really is, how can you harness your energy to maximize your return on focus?
There are 3 methods I use that have also proven to be highly effective for my clients.
1. Effort/Impact Matrix
This is a powerful prioritization tool used by some of the most successful people in the world. It is used to calculate how much energy (or effort) a task will require to complete vs the impact it will make on your life upon completion. Using an effort/impact matrix, you can get things done based on your current energy levels instead of blindly time blocking tasks and hoping that you’ll have the energy to complete them in the set amount of time.
There are many AI tools you might see on social media that do automated time blocking. But one thing AI will never be able to do is know what tasks you’re reasonably able to engage in based on your current energy level.
If you haven’t already, you can download my Effort/Impact Matrix Cheat Sheet
here to learn how to best utilize this powerful tool.
2. Nutrition
This one is a no brainer, but its often overlooked. Diet, exercise and sleep are the necessary ingredients to maximize your energy levels.
- Be mindful of your circadian rhythm which modulates our waking behavior, affecting peaks and crashes in energy throughout the day. It has a direct impact on our ability to focus and perform cognitive functions like attention, our ability to learn new skills, and working memory.
- Exercise helps increase the size of the area in the brain involved in learning and memory. Doing any kind of physical activities increases blood flow to the brain. Just doing 20 minutes of exercise before studying can improve your concentration. This means you can get in shape while enhancing your focus, ability to learn and literally make your brain bigger at the same time!
- Your diet is the fuel for your energy source. Avoid excess carbs and refined sugars that cause you to feel full and spike your blood sugar. Eat protein-rich foods like eggs, lean meat, milk, cheese, nuts, and low-fat yogurt.
3. Monotasking
Focus on one thing at a time. Multitasking will burn out your energy and leave you with more incomplete tasks at the end. Monotasking allows you to harness your energy to achieve flow state and fully immerse yourself in the one task you set out to do. This is another secret of success that is never taught in school.
We are instead sold the lie that multitasking maximizes productivity. The best quality work is done when the objective is to complete one thing.