Productivity is one of the most valuable things that any employee can master. However, in today’s fast-paced technology sector, many people struggle to find the time to get everything done in their busy days. Many staff members, from Salesforce technical leads to Automation experts, have a hard time figuring out how to manage their productivity.
If you’ve been feeling the strain yourself lately, then it could be a sign that it’s time to take a different approach. Managing your time might not be the answer to better productivity. Instead, Catherine McCarthy and Tony Schwartz suggest that it’s better to “Manage your Energy.”
Here’s how managing your energy can make you into a better team member.
The Pillars of Energy Management
Focusing on how you cultivate more energy to get things done as efficiently as possible, rather than obsessing over time, can transform the way you work. According to experts, energy management comes down to understanding four key pillars:
- Physical energy: Exercise, nutrition, and sleep – the things that give you the fuel that you need to perform at your best throughout the day. Skipping sleep or breakfast may make you less productive.
- Mental energy: An exhausted mind can’t deliver innovative solutions to problems. People need to learn how to focus on tasks as efficiently as possible, without diminishing their mental energy through things like multitasking.
- Emotional energy: Your passion and commitment to your work will govern the quality of whatever you produce. If you’ve got a bad attitude towards the tasks you’re doing, it’s hard to focus.
- Spiritual energy: Your overall experience of work on a day-to-day basis, and how satisfying you find your employment can make a big difference to your accomplishments in the workplace.
So, how can you make the most of your energy levels to boost productivity?
1. Observe your Energy Levels
The key to doing more in less time is understanding which times of the day give you the most motivation, inspiration, and productivity. There are certain times in your workday when you may be more likely to thrive when working on creative tasks. Paying attention to how you feel at specific points during the day can help you understand how to schedule your work.
Keep a calendar or journal to track your energy levels and mark the times of day when you’re most likely to struggle with productivity, and the times when you accomplish the most. During each energy period, you can set aside space for specific tasks. For instance:
- When you have high energy levels, focus on creative work, decision making, and planning for the mid and long-term in your career.
- When you’ve got low energy levels, concentrate on routine work like maintenance, email management, and working through tasks with clear processes and goals.
- When you need relaxation, look for opportunities to refresh your mind by getting outside, exercising, or even meditation.
2. Optimise Your Energy Levels
Once you understand your energy levels, you can begin to optimise them by avoiding things that drain you and embracing the things that sustain you. For instance, during your high-energy times, your vision of your career plan and an understanding of how your activities are helping you to make progress in life may help to sustain you.
On the other hand, distractions in the form of constant emails and questions from your coworkers may begin to drain your productivity levels and pull you away from the creative work you need to be doing. If you’re a business leader, ask your employees to work on solving their own problems before coming to you – particularly during the times of day when you’re most productive.
You can also optimise your energy levels by getting rid of distractions. Place your phone on silent when you’re working on creative products and avoid logging into your email until you’re ready to move into a period of low-energy repetitive work.
3. Pace Yourself Like An Athlete
According to experts, professional chess players, actors, and musicians share something in common with leading athletes. All of these people know how to take advantage of “interval training.” In other words, they don’t expect to perform at the same level all day long. Instead, they dedicate themselves to periods of 90-minute working bursts, followed by short segments of recovery time.
In your career, you can take the same approach. For instance, work on coding and implementing a new Digital Automation strategy for 90 minutes, then take a break to walk around the office and refresh your mind. Looking outside or even getting some fresh air can give you the mental break you need to keep your brain operating at its optimum level.
Many people find that regularly taking short breaks – particularly between periods of intensive work – helps them to gain more energy and productivity.
4. Don’t Twist Yourself into Knots
Finally, there are many things that can drain your energy in life. One of the biggest issues that will stop you from being productive is attempting to push yourself to be someone you’re not. When you accept your strengths and weaknesses and start being genuine with yourself, you’ll get more done.
For some technology professionals, this will mean identifying areas where you need to improve your skills with extra training or get support from another member of staff. For others, it might mean recognising that you’re better suited to a different role than the one you’re in now. Horizontal movement in your career can be a good idea if you discover that you have more energy when doing certain tasks. For instance, you might start as a Marketing Automation developer, and discover that you’d be better off as an Automation consultant instead, thanks to your ability to connect and communicate with other people.
Be honest with yourself, and it will be easier to find places where you can help your energy levels to grow and thrive.
About Resource On Demand
Resource On Demand is Europe’s first specialist Salesforce Recruitment Company, now also focusing on growth Cloud markets.
We assist innovative and disruptive organisations to grow their technology teams. Supporting companies to fill Cloud roles that span across Digital Marketing, Marketing Automation, Human Capital Management and the growing Salesforce.com suite of skills.
The team at Resource On Demand have access to an extensive database of key talent, registering over 8000 Cloud professionals each year.
To find out how we can support you call us on 01322 272 532