Working as a marketer can certainly feel overwhelming at times. It’s something we hear a lot and a topic that many of you brought up in the comments of this webinar.
So, how can we harness our natural energy rhythms to stop that overwhelm from hindering our productivity? Simon Ong shared lots of insights from his book, Energize, and anecdotes from his work as an energy coach.
Here are the 5 key takeaways from our conversation. I’d love to hear how practical you found them and what happens when you implement the 5 things that you can do right now to generate more energy.
🎢 Our energy levels change throughout the day
Energy management is understanding which things, places, and people fire you up and which do the opposite. Once we can recognise our own energisers and drainers, we can start building our lives around that data. If, for example, we realise that we have a pattern of procrastinating in the mornings but can’t be stopped later in the day, then we can start working with our body instead of against it, and ultimately do a better job.
❓ Most of us spend too much time worrying about the things we can’t control
When we take a step back and look at what we can control, we can work to make sure that we don’t become energy drainers ourselves. The language we use is a good example. Simon feels this is particularly important for people in leadership positions (but I’d say it’s useful for everyone). We often just tell people what to do, or go straight to the why questions – why didn’t you do this etc – without thinking about how that might impact the other person. Simon encourages us to instead, try asking what he calls, wisdom access questions. These questions always begin with what. For example, what do you need or what would be most useful? We can’t control everything, but we can control how we interact, support, and encourage others.
⏱️ People don’t want your time, they want your energy
There were a couple of permanently exhausted pigeons™ in the webinar chat and the topic of overwhelm came up a fair bit. When we feel overwhelmed, it can feel really difficult to switch off. Simon explains how we can take back control in those moments, by slowing down, scheduling in disconnection time, and showing gratitude with intention.
- Me time is not selfish. More me time actually means that you’ll have more energy to bring when you do get back to work or parenting or whatever else you’re focused on. When we take care of ourselves, then the people around us get the best version of us.
- Practising gratitude can take many forms, but an example Simon shares is sending someone you’re grateful for a voice note letting them know. He explains how speaking it out loud helps you, and adds more value to the sentiment for the receiver. (You’ll probably get a better response too!)
💤 It’s not about what time you wake up – it’s about the time and quality of sleep that you’ve had
And the same goes for everything else you’re doing too. So, when you’re resting, rest. Planning to wake up at 5am when you’ve gone to bed at 1am, won’t make for a productive next day. The same applies if you’re doing a lot of an activity that you personally find tiring (for us introverts, that’s lots of socialising), and you don’t make time to recharge. You can keep going and going, but you won’t be bringing the best version of yourself to the table. If you have a busy period coming up, ask yourself how you can prioritise me time.
🏆 Here’s 5 things that Simon recommends doing right now to generate more energy and pep up your day
- Write a list of the things you’re doing every day that are giving you energy and then make a list of the things that are draining you of energy. Commit to reprioritising something on your energise list.
- How will you know that this week has been a productive one? Simon suggests that once you know what productivity looks like for you, then you can plan and put things into place that allow that to happen. He gives the tried and tested example of planning the next day before you go to bed. By making the decisions about your schedule and actions the night before, it can help to save you the mental energy of having to make decisions the next day.
- Start scheduling in me time. And that doesn’t mean time for scrolling. Whether it’s reading, walking or listening to music, plan something that allows you to feel present.
- Move your body. We all know it’s true, but it doesn’t hurt to have a reminder.
- Does the work you’re doing feel purposeful and playful? If not, can you make it so? If there’s no meaning in the work you do, everything is going to feel like a chore. Make it fun.
I’ll leave you with this thought from Simon – “To master your life, you must master your days. To master your days, you must master your time. To master your time, you must master your energy.” 💥
And those are your takeaways! Simon shares lots of great examples from his coaching work in the full video, which I’d heartily recommend checking out.