Sometimes, I do feel overwhelmed and over-committed. Time is never enough and at times, when I work hard all day, I feel like I have accomplished little. It can be frustrating and draining. Being busy is a built-in feature of life. Distractions are everywhere.
My failures and experiences taught me that managing my time isn’t enough. I have learnt that I need to pay attention to the 3 core assets to be truly effective and impactful in my work. They are my time, energy, and priorities. I learnt these 3 core assets from a book I read last year - At Your Best by Carey Nieuwhof.
This week, let me share what I have learnt about Time as an asset from At Your Best by Carey Nieuwhof.
I encourage all to read this book and apply the new perspectives on Time, Energy and Priorities to help you to be more effective (and productive).
Not easy, and I am still trying to find a good harmony between the 3 core assets, but the perspectives shared by the author make sense to me. TIME - as our core asset When we talk about Time as a core asset to our effectiveness, we are talking about ‘focused time’.
We never have enough time because we fail to focus our time more intentionally. We probably treat all hours of our day equally, but they’re not.
We need to learn how to focus our time based on our energy zones. For example, I am a morning person who is most productive, creative and energised between 5 am and 11 am. I am drained by 3 pm and need to rest my mind. I am productive again between 8 pm and 10 pm, and this is where I have a short burst of energy after dinner.
Understanding our energy cycle and making it work for us is critical. Focus on the most important work within our energy zone.
If you do not use your energy zone strategically and waste it on routine and non-key work items, you will feel drained and accomplish little. That’s frustrating.
Here are some tips from me,
There’s also no need for perfection here. Things can change daily; be honest and accurate when managing your time and energy zones.
Don’t overstretch your productive energy zone. 3 to 5 hours is good enough. If you can do 3-5 hours of core work, that’s very good liao! In other words, leverage your energy by doing your best work when you’re at your best.
I often use my focused time to work on tasks that make the most significant difference to SPS and SPTI. I can do that because I have a strong LT supporting me in our day-to-day Ops in SPTI. I am thankful.
Once you’ve got the essential tasks out of the way, you can do less demanding work, such as meetings or clearing emails.
In my mind, I divided my focused time into 3 zones,
Green: key tasks that will add the most significant value to the organisation and people I serve
Yellow: moderately important or medium-energy tasks. For example, chairing meetings or responding to important emails
Red: least essential tasks that do not require me to exercise a lot of brain juice or make critical decisions, e.g. going through emails, administration work, or even exercising during these times.
Getting sucked into the spiral of stress and the busyness of our modern life is by no means inevitable. So instead, I try my best to discover my energy zones and get them to work for me. Still learning along the way, and not always successful for me.
How about you?
How will you sort out your Green, Yellow and Red energy zones?
How can you make your focused time and energy work for you?
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