The Energy Project

“Energy and persistence conquer all things.”  - Benjamin Franklin

The other night I gathered a bunch of Type A business entrepreneurs together at a bar after a full day of balancing meetings, emails, smart phones, iPads and laptops.  They entered the space with lots of anticipation to learn from author Tony Schwartz how they can better manage their ENERGY, NOT TIME, to get more productivity from themselves and their employees.  

Tony’s theory is that people work within four general zones of energy production: high performance, survival, burnout, and recovery.   Obviously, when we are in the high performance zone we are most productive.  The stress level in the room went into the burn out zone when Tony told us that we had to unplug for defined periods of time to enter the high performance zone more often.  

“Don’t mistake activity with achievement.”  - John Wooden

We each need to identify what time of day we are most productive and what those conditions are when we can perform at our best.  Forget about spending more time at work.  Figure out when you have the most energy and what those conditions are that enable you to gather and spend your energy most efficiently.  This will help you maximize your output.  

“Information overload is a symptom of our desire to not focus on what's important. It is a choice.”  - Brian Solis

Distractions - especially emails, texts, and tweets - drain the juice out of our highest energy periods. There were a ton of questions about how to really implement his suggestion that we unplug regularly. Everyone wanted to be able to do it, but wasn’t sure that they could.  But sure enough, not one phone appeared during the ensuing cocktail hour.  Tony’s discussion sparked motivation in the room, and everyone was practicing for their new energy plan.

One of my biggest take-aways was about spending time with my kids.  Tony’s advice was to focus on quality not quantity.  So often I find myself spending physical time with my kids but mentally somewhere else.  If I cut back the time but make the time 100% focused on them, it will be much more beneficial to all of us.  

To learn more about how you can get the most out of your energy and maximize performance, visit www.theenergyproject.com.