Marketing Defined

A recent HBR report stressed that learning to manage your energy instead of your time will significantly increase productivity, and rejuvenate the burned out small business owner. .. The findings of this 25 year long research, certainly struck a chord with me.

How about You? Does this sound familiar?

• You work 12 - 14 hour days, often times 7 days a week.
• Rarely ever take a break from your computer.
• Skip breakfast and other relaxed meal times with the family.
• No cardiovascular workouts during the week.
• Never fully unwind to really engage with your family, resulting in dissatisfaction and feelings of guilt.

The Energy Project from the Harvard Business Review defined the impact on a small business owner, or corporate employee:

The core problem with working longer hours is that time is a finite resource. Energy is a different story. Defined in physics as the capacity to work, energy comes from four main wellsprings in human beings: the body, emotions, mind, and spirit. In each, energy can be systematically expanded and regularly renewed by establishing specific rituals—behaviors that are intentionally practiced and precisely scheduled, with the goal of making them unconscious and automatic as quickly as possible.

To effectively re-energize their workforces, organizations need to shift their emphasis from getting more out of people to investing more in them, so they are motivated—and able—to bring more of themselves to work every day. To recharge themselves, individuals need to recognize the costs of energy-depleting behaviors and then take responsibility for changing them, regardless of the circumstances they’re facing.

So how do you break the dangerous cycle.

The good folks at Harvard Business Review recommend these practices for renewing the four dimensions of personal energy:

Physical Energy

• Sleep more, by setting an earlier bedtime and reducing alcohol use.
• Reduce stress by engaging in cardiovascular activity at least three times a week and strength training at least once.
• Eat small meals and light snacks every three hours.
• Learn to notice signs of imminent energy flagging, including restlessness, yawning, hunger, and difficulty concentrating.
• Take brief but regular breaks, away from your desk, at 90- to 120-minute intervals throughout the day.

Emotional Energy

• Defuse negative emotions— irritability, impatience, anxiety, insecurity— through deep abdominal breathing.
• Fuel positive emotions in yourself and others by regularly expressing appreciation to others in detailed, specific terms through notes, emails, calls, or conversations
• Look at upsetting situations through new lenses. For example…….

1. Adopt a “reverse lens” to ask, “What would the other person in this conflict say, and how might he be right?”
2. Use a “long lens” to ask, “How will I likely view this situation in six months?”
3. Employ a “wide lens” to ask, “How can I grow and learn from this situation?”

Mental Energy

• Reduce interruptions by performing high-concentration tasks away from phones and emails.
• Respond to voice mails and emails at designated times during the day.
• Every night, identify the most important challenge for the next day. Then make it your first priority when you arrive at work in the morning.

Spiritual Energy

• Identify your “sweet spot” activities—those that give you feelings of effectiveness, effortless absorption, and fulfillment.
• Find ways to do more of these. One executive who hated doing sales reports delegated them to someone who loved that activity.
• Allocate time and energy to what you consider most important. For example, spend the last 20 minutes of your evening commute relaxing, so you can connect with your family once you’re home.
• Live your core values. For instance, if consideration is important to you but you’re perpetually late for meetings, practice intentionally showing up five minutes early for meetings.

I hope you find the time to read the rest of this article and discover how Companies can help employees.. available at Harvard Business Online. If you are not a subscriber, try downloading the entire PDF article at www.hbrlondon.org . The results of the interactive quiz might just motivate you to rethink your current business mindset.