We have all read about enough about time management. From the Mayo Clinic to how Web Workers deal with time, everyone's got a tip or two for those who are stressed out. You've heard them before but it's always good to be reminded of the basics:

Write down your Most Important Tasks each day

Do less busy work

Trim the interruptions

Focus on quality over quantity

Get things out of your head by writing it all down

All well and good but Tony Schwartz of The Energy Project encourages us to leave much of this in our system. The key is to counterbalance it with an equally strong dose of energy management. From his Harvard Business Review article Six Ways to Supercharge Your Productivity, he makes his case for energy management:

Schedule your bedtime, and start winding down at least 45 minutes earlier. Ninety-eight percent of all human beings need at least 7-8 hours a night to feel fully rested. Only a fraction of us get that much regularly, in part because we buy into the myth that sacrificing an hour or two of sleep a night give us an hour more of productivity. In reality, even small amounts of sleep deprivation take a dramatic toll on our cognitive capacity, our ability to think creatively, our emotional resilience, the quality of our work, and even the speed at which we do it.

A powerful balance of time and energy management creates a dynamic system that is ready for anything. Interruptions- no problem. Work fatigue- bring it. Attacking competitors- hi there. With both time and energy management in place, we can better serve God and those entrusted to our care.

Question: what are you doing to manage energy on a daily basis?

*photo by expressmonorail