I know that early in my coaching career I fell into the trap of conventional thinking that to be more productive, I just needed to work harder. My thought about time management was that if I spend more and more hours at my desk, I will get more done. Makes sense right?
In the book, The Power of Full Engagement, author Tony Schwartz talks about how we shouldn’t worry about time management. Rather, we should focus on managing our energy levels because that is the key to productivity and getting things done.
When I first read this book, the concept of managing my energy over managing my time got me thinking. I looked at what I was currently doing to increase or at least manage my energy and how it was affecting my productivity throughout the day. Pretty sure I smacked myself on the forehead and thought “Duh, why wasn’t I doing this stuff before?”
Coach, if you are just waking up and not preparing to have a productive day by controlling your energy, I can almost promise you that very rarely will you ever actually be consistently productive. If you feel at times that you’re too tired to do the things you need to do, it is time to start strategically thinking of ways to increase your energy capacity and to use your body’s naturally productive rhythms of alertness in an effort to get more things done everyday.
Here are 3 simple ideas dealing with energy that you can start incorporating into your day:
Get Healthy and Practice What You Preach
Nothing will negatively impact your productivity as much as illness or injury. You tell your players to take care of themselves, don’t you? Practice what you preach by working out, stretching, eating right, drinking enough water, and getting enough sleep every day. You need to start looking at exercise, proper nutrition, sleep patterns and water as investing in your body’s ability to get more focused work done over time. Getting more fit will help your productivity by increasing your energy, stamina, and will prevent you from having to miss work time being sick.
Schedule Important Activities When You Have Good Energy.
Coach, what time of the day do you most feel the most alert, focused, and productive? We all have times during the day when we feel energetic and then other times when we feel tired. For a lot of coaches, your “prime time” or “magic time” is first thing in the morning. For some though, they are at their best at night. Your most important work for your program usually requires that you be at your very best, rested, alert, and creative. So coach, whenever you know that your energy is highest, you should plan to do your high-priority tasks. During the times of the day when you are feeling sluggish, take care of your non-challenging, low-priority tasks. If you fit your schedule to your moods and energy levels, you’ll save time and be more effective in your job.
Take mini-breaks
It’s been proven in many studies that taking short 10-15 minute breaks will increase productivity. To make sure you take breaks during the day, I recommend setting a timer that goes off every hour. Every time the timer rings, stand up before you turn it off. And once you are standing, get moving. Do something physical for five minutes. I get up to go to the bathroom, take a quick lap around the building, plan to run an errand or 2 during this time, get up to stretch, or walk around and talk to people for a moment…just do something that refreshes you for just a few minutes. You will be amazed at how much more energy and focus you have just by taking a few short mini-breaks throughout the day.
Like I said in my article a few weeks ago, I have found since I have started to work with coaches these ideas are common knowledge but they are not common practice. Try implementing just one of these ideas this week and see what sorts of results you get. Then try it each week after starting, incorporating a new one into your daily routine. Trust me coach, if you want to get more important things done well and in less time, these simple techniques can make a world of difference.
I would be very interested in hearing how these techniques are working for you. Please email me about how you have incorporated these techniques into your daily routine. Also, feel free to contact me if you have other questions about being more productive this year!
Mandy Green has been a College Coach for over 13 years and has created a company called Coaching Productivity Strategies. She is helping coaches develop the disciplines of time management by teaching coaches through seminars and one on one coaching more practical and immediately usable ideas, methods, strategies, and techniques for getting more done faster. When you learn and apply these powerful, practical techniques, you will dramatically improve the quality of your life in every area. The Green Time Management Workbook and Calendar for Coaches are designed to give you hundreds of valuable ideas that you can use immediately to organize your coaching life and tasks so that you can get more done in less time. For more information, contact mandy@mandygreencps.com or visit www.mandygreencps.com.