Ask-A-Career Coach: Match Your Energy To Your Work

Contributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStartjobsearch

Take this short energy quiz.  Give yourself 1 point for every “Yes” and 0 points for every “No.”  How do you score?

  1. I know what time of day I am most productive.
  2. I schedule my most important work for when I am most productive.
  3. I know what time of day my energy tends to sag.
  4. I know what I need to do for a quick but sure energy boost (e.g., eat a snack, take a cat nap, go for a walk).
  5. I know some activities and tasks that I can do even when my concentration tends to wane.
  6. I know how much sleep I need each night.
  7. I wake up without an alarm clock.

So how much do you know about your energy rhythms?  We all experience bouts of time when we can focus extremely well and times when we can’t.  Sometimes this varies based on the activity.  But many times, our productive and unproductive time blocks are consistently around the same times during the day.  We recognize that people are either early risers or night owls because it is a meaningful distinction, and we can empathize with it. (I’m an early riser, by the way.)

I don’t know what makes someone a morning versus an evening person, but I do know that, whichever you are, you need to match your activities accordingly.  This doesn’t necessarily mean that night owls are destined for the graveyard shift.  But it does mean that, where there is flexibility in getting things done, you may want to schedule your most important work for when you are at your best.  This is one very basic way to match your work to your energy.  Rather than fight against the tide, you account for your internal rhythms as part of how you manage your work.

Similarly, you might reserve more mindless tasks for when you know your energy sags.  Perhaps this is when you return routine phone calls, make that doctor’s appointment or run some errands.  Perhaps this is when you review previous emails or catch up on regular trade reading.  We all have regular activities that don’t require us to be 100% alert — figure out what these are and bunch accordingly.

Finally, there is a limit to how much we can get done if we merely match our work to our current supply of energy.  Ultimately you want to increase your ability to focus and work at high energy.  Therefore you do want to know how to maintain and increase your energy.  You want to get enough sleep and know how much is enough.  You want to harness and manage your best energy and therefore manage your work to its best.

Caroline Ceniza-Levine is a career coach, writer, speaker, Gen Y expert and co-founder of SixFigureStart™ , a career coaching firm comprised of former Fortune 500 recruiters. Formerly in corporate HR and retained search, Caroline most recently headed University Relations for Time Inc and has also recruited for Accenture, Citibank, Disney ABC, and others. Caroline is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Professional Development at Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs and a life coach.

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