We only have a limited amount of energy to devote to doing what we enjoy doing. The problem that many of us face is that there are many energy leeches out there waiting to suck our energy away. By taking an inventory of what causes you to feel energized and what depletes you of energy, you can develop a system that will allow you to optimize the limited amount of time and energy you have to succeed in a day.

What sucks the life out of you?

As you are going about a day’s activities, think about the things that make you unmotivated, tired, and feel like you want to craw back into bed. For me, some of the energy sinks are:

• Being a passive participant in meetings that require minor input
• Writing process or technical instructions
• Paying bills
• Trying to find missing data for an analysis
• Being stuck in traffic

What refreshes you?

Now think about the good things. What are the activities that bring about a sense of renewal and give you a positive buzz to accomplish more than you would be able to just doing energy sucking activities. For me this can include:

• Creating tasty meals
• Writing insightful blog posts
• Delivering presentations what “WOW” people
• Exploring a city I have never been to before
• Completing personal projects

The Problem – Sink to Sink Schedules

I have found that the problem with most work schedules is that it is set up to move you from energy sink to energy sink without any refreshing events between the sinks. The effect of those schedules is that by the time you leave work or get to the afternoon if you are working at home, you are exhausted and have no energy bandwidth to devote to meaningful projects.

The Solution – Time for Renewal

To combat the end of day fatigue, you need to get you schedule whipped into shape to maximize the amount of energy you have for the day. To do this, you need to follow some guidelines:

1. Don’t schedule energy sink activities first thing in the morning. If you do, then make sure you try to do something refreshing right before and right after the draining activity to get your energy levels back in line.
2. Use the sandwich technique often employed in evaluations. Do something positive that gets you motivated, so something draining then do something positive again to limit the impact of the draining activity.
3. This is just common advice for anyone, but I encourage you to drink plenty of water, take stretch breaks, and make sure you are violently enforcing your energy bandwidth schedule.

Now I know that there can be problems with organizing your schedule around kids, careers, and your personal interests, however, your energy to accomplish things is the most important asset you have. Don’t waste it and find ways to structure your activities to refresh and renew so you can find yourself accomplishing your goals with more energy everyday.