Do you have the energy to “do” the stuff that is most important to You? Is your time aligned to get this important stuff done?

With our post-pandemic world beginning to open up, I’m pretty excited to get some freedom back and start doing some things again. I’m also afraid of falling back into my old ways of getting things done and jumping right back into doing too much, especially since I’m still learning and trying new ways to get my stuff done. 

The mandated respite of the pandemic helped me see that relying on brute force, strong-arming, and willpower didn’t work. Sure, I produced results and was successful – what was the real impact? – the actual cost? I was often overworked, frazzled, overwhelmed, and depleted trying to get “it” all done.

So, this time will be different.

How? I’ve realized it’s not about doing more to have more and working harder, suffering. It’s about doing less, to completion, and always have the energy to do what matters most to me. This requires aligning my time with only those actions. 

It’s about using my resources to support consistency and sustain momentum. This requires me to conserve and preserve my energy and master my time. Protecting my time and energy is more important than ever.

I’m giving up trying to get everything done, all at the same time, and replacing it with a maniacal focus on what’s most important to me and an uber commitment to protecting my time and energy on my journey to fulfillment.

Today, I share some interventions designed to protect time and energy.

Any of these will help you avoid depletion and exhaustion, stress and overwhelm, and will go a long way to ensure you have enough energy to be your best self and align your time to get your best “stuff” done.

Protecting Your Time and Energy

Time and energy are both powerful, nonrenewable resources. Once they’re spent, they’re gone. You’ll want to have strategies that align your daily actions consistently to “have” the results you want most and the growth you most desire. 

This practice area is discussed in more detail in my free audio program, The Fulfillment Formula – 3 steps to live fully and experience more happiness, peace, and freedom. https://tyrajarvis.com/fulfillment-audio/

How do you make sure you have them available when you need them?

Your energy is your most powerful resource, and your time helps you conserve and preserve your energy.

By definition, energy is the ability to work and play, to get yourself from one place to another! Having the energy you need at all times is critical to ensure you have what you need to get all your stuff done along your journey to fulfillment. I’m not sure I realized how critical this was until the pandemic. 

Tools and techniques to help protect your time and energy. 

One thing I know for sure, doing the same things the same way, using the same skills that have gotten you where you are today, most likely will not be the skills needed to get you someplace new. Be on the lookout for new tools and ways to manage time, schedules, calendars, and energy in new ways for your new situations.

Maintain a healthy energy source

I talk about health and body a lot. That’s because it is one of my life goals – ultimate health and wellness. 

It’s the critical foundation for everything you want in your life, including energy mastery. You see, your body is the source of your energy. It is what supports you getting from point A to point B. If you are tired, hungry, thirsty, out of breath, carrying extra body weight, your body can not optimally support you. 

I have an unrelenting urgency around this one. I learned very painfully we’re all one phone call away from having everything turned upside down. When you don’t have your health, nothing else matters. Trust me on this one! 

For me, this will always be one of my Top 3 goal areas. Healthy daily habits and routines to reinforce my body to do what it does best – be the vessel for my fulfillment journey. 

Doing the “right” things vs. doing things right!

In leadership development, there is a saying, “managers do things right, leaders do the right things.” I feel this distinction applies to life. 

Whatever the topic area – time management, energy management, stress management, weight management, money management – for me, it is no longer getting hung up on doing things “right” like there’s a right way and a wrong way. This trips me up, triggers my inner perfectionist, and causes me not to act – to procrastinate. 

“Perfection is an illusion. It doesn’t matter. It shows that you’re human.” ~ Katy Perry, Singer, Songwriter, American Idol judge 2021

I’m searching for mastery – doing the “right” things, and most importantly, doing the best “right” things for me. I recommend the same for you.

This helps focus and decision-making. It keeps you connected to your “why” and your motivators and keeps you aligned with your vision and goals. Plus, you get good at saying “NO” and saying “NO” often with some practice. I’m not talking about saying “NO” to little things that don’t matter. I’m talking about getting good at saying “NO” to big ideas that seem like great opportunities and yet take you off focus. It’s just not the right time, and they are distractions.

“When you know what’s important, it’s a lot easier to ignore what’s not!” Marie Forleo, American Entrepreneur, motivational speaker, author

Get comfortable trying and learning new things.

Acknowledging the importance of growing and evolving is critical to living a fulfilling life. Doing the right things will most likely require acknowledging when you don’t know something and need to seek a better way. Getting good at trying and learning new things is critical.

This is how you learn – try it, if it works great, if it doesn’t, you learn something – tweak and try again. NO question, this approach requires confidence and growing competency by playing all out. It’s not for the faint of heart because it’s not comfortable.

Yet, “life begins outside your comfort zone.” When you commit to getting more comfortable trying and learning new things, you will experience personal growth and discover some magic for yourself along the way.

Bonus – learning new things sparks creativity and inspiration, which helps sustain motivation and momentum!

Mastery best practices for protecting your energy

• Know the success factors – self-awareness is key to understanding your behavior and assessing what works best to support your consistency, sustain your motivation and momentum. Routines? Rituals? Habits? Automaticity? What is it for you?
• Simplify your life – less is more! Be honest with yourself – it will not all get done, so let it go. Remember the 80:20 rule? 20% of anything produces 80% of your results. Get good at purging to help you stay focused and concentrate. The alternative zaps energy. 

Additional Resources

A couple of resources I have found fascinating and supportive is an Amy Porterfield podcast with Kate Northrup, “Feeling frazzled and overworked? How to prioritize what matters most.” 

• Amy is an online marketing entrepreneur and author.  https://www.amyporterfield.com/2019/05/262/
• Kate is the author of Do Less: A Revolutionary Approach to Time and Energy Management for Ambitious Women. 
• Pace yourself – life is a marathon, not a sprint. Never go below a ¼ tank, so you have some reserves and “surge protection” for when you need to sprint. Maintaining a consistent, steady pace is key!
• Know your energy zappers – we all have them. What causes you to go off and start sorting your sock drawer? What are yours? Social media, email, binge-watching TV. Turn off all notifications and alerts, especially audible ones. Use a “do not disturb sign” on your door if you share a workspace.
• Set your environment up for success  – your physical environment can be a source for great stuff getting done or a significant source of distraction, overwhelm, and stress. Use great lighting, take breaks to get some fresh air, get rid of clutter, organize digital and paper files. Trust me, your eyes see everything!
• Get complete regularly – review, reflect, complete. Implement a regular completion process daily, weekly, quarterly, annually, including after-action reviews for events and projects. Look for what you’re proud of to acknowledge and celebrate. Identify any mistakes and lessons you learned to leverage your wisdom. Let go of anything no longer serving you. 
• Tackle tolerations – toleration is any situation, condition, or influence allowed to exist, is less than ideal, and is put up with or endured. They eat up time, money, energy, psychic real estate and are often a hindering influence that blocks your from having something you want. So, are tolerations zapping your energy and resources? Are they keeping you up at night? Are you accepting tolerations as a way of life? If so, identify the harmful and hindering tolerations, acknowledge they are impacting your life, and develop an action plan to remove the tolerations blocking you or strategies for accepting a condition or situation that can not be changed. Areas to look for tolerations might be your physical environment, emotional health, well-being, finances, relationships, incompletions.
• Stop Tolerating Incompletions – tolerating incomplete stuff zaps energy and contributes to overwhelm. To create space for creating new possibilities, conversations and actions, practice getting complete regularly. Get real about incomplete items – what you said you would do; what others asked you to do; what you expect, need, or want to do; what others expect, need, or want you to do. Create and work your incomplete items inventory: make a list of everything not complete with your plan to get complete – do it now, schedule it to be done, or get straight, agree not to do it, and call it complete.

Working with a coach is a great way to shine a light on tolerations and help you develop strategies for clearing your path.

Protect Your Time – Master Your Time, Schedule, Calendar

Are you making time for your most important people and things? If it’s not on your calendar, it will not get done.

How do you use your time? Does it feel like your time, schedule, and calendar are managing you? If so, this is distracting you, taking you off focus, and draining your energy.

A healthy relationship with time helps reduce stress and will generate more time for the things you love.

About time …

Time is finite – you can make more money, more friends, generate new ideas, learn new things – you can not make more time! We all get 24 hours a day or 168 hours each week. 

Honoring your boundaries with your time, schedule, and calendar that works for you is a powerful way to get the best “right” things done and respect yourself. Double dip – helps you protect your energy and pace yourself, so you always have what you need to finish any race strong.

Mastery best practices for protecting your time

• Commit to mastering your time – doing the right things with your time. This may require you to learn and try new ways to grow your skills and competency in this critical life skill.
• Know Your Best Time –are you a morning person, a night owl? When do you do your best work? Don’t spend your best time wasting time.
• Complete and Plan each week – use specific descriptions for tasks with time estimates. Schedule the time on your calendar to do the work, and honor your deadlines.
• Calendar Block like activities – 3 Ps – Planning, Project (Focus & Admin), Play. Schedules should include transition buffers to allow enough time between meetings and tasks. Also, have some white space for unplanned and carry-over tasks.
• Always make time to invest in your self-care. Put your oxygen mask on first! Do something every day that brings you joy!
• Do less, better to completion. Simplify by focusing on “will dos’ as opposed to “to-dos.” Ask yourself – does it need to be done? Does it need to be done by me? Does it need to be done NOW? 
• Prioritize and stay focused on your most important Top 3 most.
• Beware of multi-tasking; it’s a time trap. It does not help you to be more productive. Keep a laser focus on one thing at a time.  https://lisabollow.com/multitasking-myth/

Most importantly, you’re in charge of your time, schedule, and calendar. You say what goes in your schedule and on your calendar. Protect your time by taking charge and owning your commitments, and aligning everything you give time to so you control what gets your attention.

Remember that there are only 24 hours in the day. This means that whatever you choose to take on limits your ability to do other things. So even if you somehow can fit a new commitment into your schedule, if it’s not more important than what you would have to give up to do it (including time for relaxation and self-care), you don’t have the time in your schedule.

You’re in charge – own your commitments, take charge of your time, including your calendar, and you’ll take charge of your happiness and fulfillment!

If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done!

What will you choose to do today?

• Take care of yourself
• Make time for you – do something every day that brings you joy!
• Manage your time differently
• Take Action when you are stuck
• Invest time and money into your development
• Use accountability structures to support your success journey
• Use a coach, mastermind, or peak performance partner to help hold you accountable

You’re in charge – own your commitments, take charge of your time, including your calendar, and happiness!

Check it out and let me know in the comments how you will protect your energy in our post-pandemic world?

Reminder: time and energy are nonrenewable assets. You only get 24 hours a day and 168 hours a week. Once they’re spent, they’re gone; you don’t get them back.

Protecting your time and energy is your superpower!

How will you spend your time today? 

How will you make sure you have enough energy in your tank to get your highest priority things done today?