A video presentation of Darren Hardy, former publisher of SUCCESS Magazine, has inspired me to talk about this topic. This is a continuation of last month’s discussion about managing your energy in order to boost productivity.
Did you know that at some point in our lives, we experience what they call an energy crisis? That in order to perform our best, we need to be at our optimum energy. There are also instances when decision making depletes our willpower and causes “decision fatigue.”
So, what can we do to be able to perform at 100% and be the best we can be? There are four major areas we need to manage: Physical, Mental, Emotional and Spiritual.
Last time, I wrote about the importance of managing Physical Energy. Now, I will go over and discuss the benefits of managing your Mental Energy.
One factor that plays a big role with your Mental Energy is your INPUT. What do you feed your mind? What do you spend your time on? What do you listen to? What are you watching? Whatever it is, it will either embolden or debilitate, encourage or discourage you mentally.
The second major influence is DISTRACTION. What kind of media news, education, information, alerts, and updates do you really need to absorb in order to support your goals? Try turning off your devices and see how this will change your daily performance.
The next thing would be QUIETING YOUR MIND. Take it off the grid. You would be surprised how many people can’t do this. Since we are living in a fast-paced world, we often force a frenetic type of energy in our minds.
This creates toxins in your adrenals, intuitive, creative and mental capacity. To turn down the “heat” of that frenetic energy, take 20-30 minutes a day to sit quietly and relax. This is not easy, I know, but when I do this, I can feel my body and mind relax, becoming more peaceful and clear-headed.
The toxic energy just drains out and my natural energy comes back. This helps restore my inner power and energy. I came across an article that says Oprah does this for her organization. Twice a day for 20 minutes everything stops. No calls going in or out, no meetings, no replying to emails. Nothing. Just an absolute silence.
Do you think this has played a part in her success? I do. So, try to set a goal that you can track and measure if you can spend at least 20-30 minutes each day doing absolutely nothing.
The next step to help further restore your mental energy is to go on VACATION. A 2014 poll by Harris Interactive found that over 60% of Americans fail to use all of their vacation time in a year because of constant working.
That could probably be the reason why more Americans are experiencing burnout, reduced productivity, failed relationships and suffer from stress or stress-related ailments like depression, heart disease and stomach ulcers at record levels.
A study of 12,000 men showed that infrequent vacationers were 50% more likely to die of a heart attack than frequent vacationers. Another study of 1,500 women that took vacations twice a year were half as likely to be depressed compared to those who took a vacation every 2-5 years.
Our future does not depend on us being hard laborers. Our future is in our minds and our ability to think creatively, innovatively and productively. You get paid to rest since you get paid to perform, right?
Don’t consider the need for recovery as a weakness. It’s an important part of your growth. The more activity done, the more rest is needed since toxins are building up inside of us. With overtraining and overworking, we tend to wear down, collapse or get sick eventually.
Vacation is not just about “enjoying life.” Time off should be considered a reward for hard work and productivity. Allow yourself to take some time off. It may be difficult, especially if you’re a workaholic, but everyone needs a breather from work life and enjoy what’s out there.
Stop thinking that working all the time is “good” and not working makes you a “slacker.” Reframe that mindset. Call your time off a “rejuvenation time” and make sure you schedule it and defend it like you would if you had a meeting with the President or in my case Oprah.
Make sure you set expectations and communicate them to people. Lastly, measure it. How many times did you take a nap? Had dinner with your family? Got quiet? Read a good book? Whatever you view as your “rejuvenation time.” Make it one of your critical priorities. Also, make sure your time off is fun because if it’s boring you might get sucked into old habits and start working again.
I am writing this article at the most perfect time because I look forward to my “rejuvenation time” coming up in a week when I go to Greece for four weeks. Now make sure you schedule yours.
To your success,
