Simple, powerful rituals to renew energy
Simple, powerful rituals to renew energy
Seeing your energy as the most precious resource rather than time is still a pretty radical idea even though this article from the Energy Project (a training and consulting company) was published 17 years ago. It provides tangible actions to help create energising rituals throughout your day not only to improve performance at work but to help gain a greater sense of fulfilment both in and outside of work.
As time (and energy) is short I’ve extracted the nuts and bolts here:
Who are The Energy Project? A training and consulting company focused on the human factors that fuel sustainable high-performance. They ‘help people fuel their energy physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually, in order to better manage relentlessly rising demand.’ And they do it for companies including Coca-Cola, Google, Microsoft and Facebook. In the article they outline each ‘human factor’ that impacts energy and performance and provide an action to maximise it.
“The Body: Physical Energy
It is scarcely news that inadequate nutrition, exercise, sleep, and rest diminish people’s basic energy levels, as well as their ability to manage their emotions and focus their attention. Yet many executives don’t find ways to practice consistently healthy behaviors, given all the other demands in their lives.
Action:
Intermittent breaks for renewal (ideally every 90-120 minutes) result in higher and more sustainable performance. The length of renewal is less important than the quality. It is possible to get a great deal of recovery in a short time—as little as several minutes—if it involves a ritual that allows you to disengage from work and truly change channels. Take a recharging break - get up to talk to a colleague about something other than work, listen to music, walk outside or even up and down stairs
The Emotions: Quality of Energy
When people are able to take more control of their emotions, they can improve the quality of their energy, regardless of the external pressures they’re facing. Most people realize that they tend to perform best when they’re feeling positive energy. What they find surprising is that they’re not able to perform well or to lead effectively when they’re feeling any other way.
Action:
One simple but powerful ritual for defusing negative emotions is deep abdominal breathing. Exhaling slowly for five or six seconds induces relaxation and recovery, and turns off the fight-or-flight response
Fuel positive emotions by showing appreciation to others, a practice that seems to be as beneficial to the giver as to the receiver. It can take the form of a handwritten note, an e-mail, a call, or a conversation—and the more detailed and specific, the higher the impact.People can cultivate positive emotions by learning to change the stories they tell themselves about the events in their lives. We teach them to tell the most hopeful stories possible.
Be aware of the stories you tell yourself: Often, people in conflict cast themselves in the role of victim, blaming others or external circumstances for their problems. Becoming aware of the difference between the facts in a given situation and the way we interpret those facts can be powerful in itself. People have a choice about how to view a given event and to recognize how powerfully the story they tell influences the emotions they feel. We teach them to tell the most hopeful and personally empowering story possible in any given situation, without denying or minimizing the facts.
The Mind: Focus of Energy
Many executives view multitasking as a necessity in the face of all the demands they juggle, but it actually undermines productivity. Distractions are costly: A temporary shift in attention from one task to another—stopping to answer an e-mail or take a phone call, for instance—increases the amount of time necessary to finish the primary task by as much as 25%, a phenomenon known as “switching time.” It’s far more efficient to fully focus for 90 to 120 minutes, take a true break, and then fully focus on the next activity.
Action:
Only deal with emails during specific windows of time through the day 45 mins windows
Find a quite space to work on a project and don’t allow any distractions
Focus systematically on activities that have the most long-term leverage. Unless people intentionally schedule time for more challenging work, they tend not to get to it at all or rush through it at the last minute. Perhaps the most effective focus ritual the executives we work with have adopted is to identify each night the most important challenge for the next day and make it their very first priority when they arrive in the morning. By 10am they’ve had a productive day.
The Human Spirit: Energy of Meaning and Purpose
People tap into the energy of the human spirit when their everyday work and activities are consistent with what they value most and with what gives them a sense of meaning and purpose. If the work they’re doing really matters to them, they typically feel more positive energy, focus better, and demonstrate greater perseverance. Regrettably, the high demands and fast pace of corporate life don’t leave much time to pay attention to these issues, and many people don’t even recognize meaning and purpose as potential sources of energy. If we tried to begin our program by focusing on the human spirit, it would likely have minimal impact. Only when participants have experienced the value of the rituals they establish in the other dimensions do they start to see that being attentive to their own deeper needs dramatically influences their effectiveness and satisfaction at work.
Action: To access the energy of the human spirit, people need to clarify priorities and establish accompanying rituals in three categories: doing what they do best and enjoy most at work; consciously allocating time and energy to the areas of their lives—work, family, health, service to others—they deem most important; and living their core values in their daily behaviors.”
