How to Manage your Energy in challenging Times

These are exceptional times. A lot has been said and written in the last couple of weeks on how leadership is shifting during this global pandemic. Many of us not only have to face the deadly human toll and disruption to millions of people’s lives, but deal with the uncertainty of the economic damage.

The workplace is confronted with huge tasks these days — and even bigger ones are waiting:

- Dealing with the uncertainty of roles, businesses and the financial impact of the crisis

- Protecting employees and colleagues from Covid-19 exposure & supporting Mental Health

- Showing care and true empathy for the impact on the lives of everyone around us

- Legal obligations around the current pandemic and potential layoffs

- Forecasting scenarios, business implications & making the right decisions

- Effective communication with employees, colleagues, stake- and shareholders

- (Re-)Build trust, purpose, sense and motivation

- Managing remote teams & virtual collaboration

- Some might feel the urge or market necessity to reinvent themselves and become creative

Dealing with this crisis, individual preferences come to play. Some of us might have the urge to read and interpret all available data on crisis management, some have this constant need to connect with others. Some of us just throw themselves into their work, getting some of those bigger strategic projects done — finally.

In some business areas workload has increased. And then there are many millions who feel anxious about their finances and economic existence.

I have learned much about my coaching clients over the last couple of weeks on a different, more intimate level: Sitting at their home, being interrupted by their kids, showing me their cats and dogs, people are dealing with completely different questions than during “normal times”: How do I make sure that my partner gets enough support, now that the kids are homeschooling? How do we keep our couple sane? And how about “me-time”? One of the things I have heard most often is: Managing the work implications of this crisis together with keeping up the private lives and the financial concern is energy consuming. After looking into the screen all day, interacting virtually with everyone, being worried about the future and ending their days by checking the news, I sense that many leaders and their coworkers are tired and drained.

Being worried, concerned and maybe even destabilized is normal and ok. We need to acknowledge the pain and give it room. But then, as often stressed, in every crisis lies opportunity too. What can be seen and heard these days is, that priorities are shifting. Some of us might discover some aspects about themselves in this crisis, that they want to hold on to once all this is over. Like living a more purposeful life. Taking care of your health. Spending more time with your loved ones. Maybe even shifting businesses and products towards a more sustainable, environment friendly direction.

There’s also a message of hope: The kindness, unprecedented solidarity and support amongst coworkers, neighbours and the hard work and bravery of those professionals that our society depends on these days.

Many studies have shown that being resilient in times of adversity is one of the key leadership principles that will help you bounce back from hardship. Here is what is also important — not only in times of adversity, but especially in these times:

Manage your Energy

Whatever your challenge, fear, new project or opportunity might be — Managing your energy will help you to get closer to achieving your goals. First and foremost your own energy, since this is crucial for being able to managing the energy of others. The old flight-attendance saying about “Putting on your own mask first before assisting others” never gets old.

Here are some practical tools that can help you to manage your energy effectively:

1. Self-Discovery: Pause & Connect with Yourself

Besides the challenges we are facing there also lies true value in this “forced pause”. It offers a chance to all of us to reflect on what matters, and to think about who we are and where we are. Make use of the time that is given to you to confront yourself with some deeper questions, you might lack time for under normal circumstances. Those could be such as:

- What is my purpose?

- What is important to me?

- How do I define my own happiness? What is it, that I really need?

- What are aspects of my life that I don’t really consider as being necessary? Are they preventing me of investing time & energy in the things that are truly important?

- What are my strengths? My weaknesses?

- What am I passionate about?

- Are there beliefs about myself that I have built over the years? How do they impact my decisions? Are they true?

- What are my values? Are my actions aligned with my values?

I recommend reflecting on those while walking in nature e.g., journaling or talking to a friend, family member or a coach. Or why not: Just sitting and thinking, a task Warren Buffet makes room for every day. For those who prefer a more structured approach self-discovery tools, assessments and frameworks can be of help.

2. Connect to your values

Identifying and understanding your values is an important part of self-discovery. Being aware of your values will help you to make the best choices in any situation. Here is a framework that will help you to create more awareness around your values. You can use it to quickly identify the values that you hold. Start by choosing 10 values out of the list below, then prioritize the 4 values that you consider most important. When you next make a decision, ask yourself whether it is consistent with these values.

Here’s an example: Let’s say you discover that “Family-orientedness” is one of your top values. Maybe in the past you did not pay the attention to your family in the way you would have wished to do. Maybe the forced quarantine is helping you to realize how much this nurtures your soul. Or let’s say the fact of not being able to connect with your colleagues brings awareness to you how much “Belonging” is part of your values. Or you realize that “Contribution” to something bigger is actually what is important to you.

Whatever insights you might have, those could be an important first step in taking action in a new direction, maybe one you have not dared to think of up to now.

3. Focus on what you can control

One of the biggest energy drainers is to put your energy on things that are out of your control. As success author Franklin Covey teaches us, as we go about our lives, we operate in two circles: The first is our circle of concern. These are things that we care about and that affect us. Like politics, the weather, the economy or a global pandemic. But over which we have little or no control. The second is our circle of influence. Those are the things you can control. Like your attitude, what you read, the stories you tell yourself, your habits, how you spend your free time and who you spend it with.

Covey underlines that there are two ways you can live your life. You can either be reactive or proactive. Reactive people complain about the things that are out of their control. Their environment and outside forces affect their performance and their mood. And then you have the other type of person who takes action and ownership of the things they can control. This kind of person realizes that their decisions determine their lives, not their conditions. Proactive people don’t complain about things they can’t control. They take action upon the things they can control.

I invite you to reflect on the things that you personally can control and influence amidst the current situation by using Covey’s framework.

4. Build self-awareness: What provides energy to you, what are your energy drainers?

Another helpful exercise to manage your energy is a simple reflection on what it is that energizes you and what drains you. Those might be circumstances, environments, tasks, mental states or people. Write down your energizers and energy drainers by using this framework and decide what to do about them:

5. Renew the four dimensions of your energy

In their Harvard Business Review Article “Manage your Energy, not your Time”, Tony Schwartz and Catherine McCarthy suggest concrete interventions based on the science of stamina. They recommend these practices for renewing four dimensions of personal energy:

Go through this checklist on a regular basis to make sure you cover all four areas of your energy. Choose those activities from the list that speak most to you.

6. Bring Mindfulness to your life

During the last couple of years mindfulness has become an integral part not only of people’s personal lives, but also of the workforce. The activity and research around mindfulness is based on the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn, who has identified the following seven areas of mindfulness:

1. Non-judging

2. Patience

3. Beginner’s Mind

4. Trust

5. Non-striving

6. Acceptance

7. Letting Go

He has later refined his model and talks now about 9 attitudes. In this video he explains these dimensions and how to approach them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n7FOBFMvXg

Headspace, leading mindfulness app, is now free for healthcare practitioners, and Mindful@home offers free live guided meditations from leading teachers.

Here’s a simple breathing exercise to release stress and overcome anxiety that you can apply right-away, in any moment of your day:

To manage your energy remember these five points:

1. Self-Discovery: Pause & Connect with Yourself

2. Connect to your values

3. Focus on what you can control

4. Renew the four dimensions of your energy

5. Bring mindfulness to your life

I wish you all the energy you need to get through these times — stay well and confident!

(If you wish to receive some of the here included graphics, please feel free to reach out.)

References & Resources:

- Steven R. Covey. The 7 habits of highly effective people.

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj8dmSgQa1c

- MindTools.com. (2020). What are you Values? [Online]. Available from: https://www.mindtools.com/community/pages/article/newTED_85.php [Accessed: March 12, 2020].

- Harvard Business Review: Tony Schwartz and Catherine McCarthy: Manage your Energy, not your Time. In: HBR’s 10 Must Reads: On Managing Yourself.

- John Kabat-Zinn: Mindfulness for Beginners. Reclaiming the Present Moment — and your Life.

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n7FOBFMvXg

- https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/lifes-work/202003/51-simple-ways-de-stress-and-find-joy-home