Readers who have heard me deliver a keynote or teamtalk presentation or perhaps attended one of my productivity and performance training programmes will have heard me say that ‘All we can truly manage in a demanding day is where we choose to put our focus and energy moment to moment’. In fact it has become, what my clients call, a ‘Mayburyism’.

Energy management seems to be a hot topic with people at the moment and in the past month many people in 4 different countries for different clients have asked me for specific support in this area within my training programmes.

Something is sapping our collective energy right now it seems.

Managing Purpose, Priorities, Focus and Energy leverages performance

Good personal purpose and priority management approaches to the key areas of our personal and professional lives obviously helps us maintain high motivation, performance and energy levels. But total Energy Management goes beyond that.

I see Energy Management as different to health and fitness management – both of which are, obviously, very important.

My GoToGuy for Energy Management is Bill Ford.

I bought his book ‘High Energy Habits – the busy person’s guide to more energy without diets and exercise’ in July 2002, one month after first publication and I have been recommending it ever since.

My battered, annotated, highlighted, Post-It tabbed copy is still close to hand in my office. It remains my No.1 reading recommendation on this topic.

I was having a chat with Bill recently and he kindly allowed me to post here a copy of one of his lists of ‘Top 10 ways to increase energy which you will see below. I have also added a non-affiliate link to the Amazon UK page for his book. Do yourself a favour and buy it!

Energy Management: Bill Ford top 10 ways to increase energy

Would you like to have more energy? Most business people would love to have more energy and feel that it would have an impact on productivity and profits. The main message is: notice what drains your energy and do less of it, and what boosts your energy and do more of it. As simple as that, here are some specifics:

  1. Go for progress not perfection. The road sweeper when he wants to feel good looks behind him, not in front. Take a few moments at the end of each day to write down three things that you achieved that day.
  2. Start meetings by going round the room and asking everyone to say one thing that is going well in their work. This modest exercise can be surprisingly challenging for some, but it will help to raise the energy for all present.
  3. Clear clutter in 15 minute bursts – it matters more than you think. If it is neither useful nor beautiful, then sell it, give it away or dump it.
  4. Fix the little things you’ve been meaning to get around to – the printer that doesn’t work properly, the loose light switch etc. Make a list and start taking action on them. Ignoring them drains energy, like a noisy fan in the background.
  5. Start rating your energy out of 10. Before going into a meeting, prepare by deciding what level you would like to be during the meeting. Then act as if you were.
  6. Make 3 minute phone calls to people who lift you. They can pick up your day and are particularly useful before you start making sales calls or more difficult phone calls.
  7. Spend more time with people who lift you and less with those who drain you.
  8. Avoid back to back meetings. Leave yourself a bit of space between them. And turn up for meetings a few minutes early so you are more composed and less flustered.
  9. Allow an extra 15 minutes or so for journeys and put the departure time in your diary. Treat it as you would an appointment eg. If you said you would set off at 10.15, then do it. Resist the temptation to make an extra call or two. Do that at the other end, if you have time.
  10. Your energy level impacts those around you. If you are managing others you have to look upbeat or you drag others down, affecting their productivity. Your apparent mood is a matter of scrutiny for those you manage. Ask yourself after every encounter did you just help them to achieve more or less by the way you came across?

Get Bill Ford’s full insights in his book ‘High Energy Habits’ through this non-affiliate Amazon link. http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743428943/

So, what works for you? How do you manage your energy levels? Being around high energy people does it for me!
Until next time,
Richard