Have energy left at the end of the workday

Published on February 5, 2023

The way to have energy left is to pay attention to how you spend your day. As little friction as possible, as much passion as possible.

Start the day well

We all find it annoying to forget to charge our phone at night, only to discover later that its battery is half full or almost empty.

Why? Because it will not be available for the whole day. Or you have to spend time charging it during the day. Not ideal.

If you do not start the day well, which actually begins the evening before, you are doing the same to your body. How can you expect to have energy left after work if you start the day half charged?

The evening before

To start the day well, do a few specific tasks the evening before. These tasks are intended to set up your environment constructively.

Preparing the environment you want the next day makes it easy to do the things you want. Part of that is charging your phone outside the bedroom and setting an alarm clock. The last thing you want in the morning is to get distracted immediately by WhatsApp messages, scrolling Instagram or Twitter, or replying to people on Facebook.

Doing this occasionally is not a disaster, but it does come at the expense of your day and your goal.

Set the tone

You probably know the expression “getting out of bed on the wrong side”. Its kernel of truth is that starting the day badly makes it hard to have a good day. This is mostly because letting go of things is difficult.

Fortunately, this principle works in the other direction too.

But what is good or bad here? For me, a morning starts well when I do my own thing and make progress toward my goals. That means being proactive rather than reactive. The idea is to score, and feel, wins as quickly as possible.

There are several ways to do this.

The easiest is a habit called the “Maui Habit”. As soon as your feet touch the floor in the morning, tell yourself, “It is going to be a lovely day.” Bam! Your first win already.

A second win could be making your bed. It does not have to be as elaborate as the Four Seasons hotel. Straighten everything and tidy the pillows, and it already looks great. An organized room is an organized mind!

Find something that works for you. To get your creativity going, here are a few more suggestions:

1. Take one sip of water.

2. Fry an egg, or have a bowl of yogurt: something simple and quick.

3. Walk for five minutes.

4. Visualize what you want to achieve today.

Now that you have started the day on a positive note, keep it going that way.

You have energy left when you feel physically, emotionally and mentally fulfilled.

Work without friction

Friction is the resistance you encounter when you run into something. It is a principle of physics: it costs energy, causes wear and is undesirable.

The trick to having energy left is to perform as well as possible with as little friction as possible. It is like releasing your car’s handbrake. Where everything previously took effort and did not feel good, now it feels as if you are flying.

Working without friction starts with clarifying your priority for the day.

Know your priority

If you want energy left at the end of the working day, know that what you are doing actually contributes to a result. This prevents frustration and gives you a sense of satisfaction.

Frustration is a form of resistance. The word comes from Latin and essentially means “working without results”. That is exactly what causes frustration.

Naturally, you want to prevent this. To work without frustration, have a long-term vision with short-term intermediate results.

The easiest way to achieve this is to use a working method that ensures it. This might be the Pomodoro technique or the Ivy Lee method. The latter is enormously powerful and my personal favorite.

The Ivy Lee method

The Ivy Lee method is a very effective technique for focusing on one subject at a time.

It is very simple, yet extremely effective. Each day, make a priority list numbered one to six. Start with the first task, and only move to the second once number one is completely finished.

Keep the big picture in mind when setting priorities. Are you actually working on tasks that contribute to the end goal, or keeping busy for its own sake? This helps you quickly achieve useful results. Once you have a result, you can adapt or adjust it later. This method lets you deliver something quickly.

Focus blocks

Another very effective tool is focus blocks. Blocking an hour or more in your calendar lets you get more done. Be sure to communicate this to colleagues. Explain that you remain available for emergencies and for regular communication a few times a day.

This is generally acceptable as long as colleagues know what to expect from you.

Resolve physical resistance

Physical resistance can have different causes, both external and internal.

Bodily resistance If you have a headache or neck pain, working productively without friction can be hard. This is more internal: resistance arising from your body. The same applies to hunger and thirst.

This type of resistance can be hard to resolve quickly, but it matters. If you really struggle with it, I would recommend consulting medical professionals and paying attention to your posture, diet and nasal breathing.

Resistance from your environment Another form of friction or resistance can come from your environment. For example, not being able to find your house keys when you want to go for a run.

It has happened to me too. Before you know it, you have spent half an hour searching, are hungry again and still have not left. Not ideal.

You can resolve this kind of resistance by deliberately arranging your environment. You can get ahead of things and prepare everything beforehand, or address problems when you encounter them.

I consciously noticed that problem with my keys. When I got home, I thought, “How can I do this better next time?” The solution was simple. I now keep a spare key 🔑 with my running clothes. I never lose an extra half-hour searching anymore.

Tips: friction and solutions

The list of friction points is endless, but fortunately the principles for solving them are the same.

Ultimately, resistance comes from another principle of physics: inertia. Getting something heavy moving takes a lot of force at first, but once you are going, you tend to keep going.

What makes something “heavy” is how you think about it: “It is hard”, “It is difficult”, “It is boring”. No! Those are labels you have given it yourself.

The trick to resolving resistance is:

1. Make the step smaller.

2. Just start.

3. Make the step smaller still.

To help you along, here are some common friction points and possible solutions.

Boredom

How do I do a boring task? Simple! A task is boring when it is not very complicated and does not require much brainpower. Combine it with good music or something else, and take that first step. If necessary, work on it for just 15 minutes at a time.

Finding a task boring often means you would rather be doing something else. But remember: boring things ultimately produce the most beautiful results!

I do not know where to start

How do you begin when you do not know WHERE to begin?

If there is so much that you do not know where to start, it is often best to pick the easiest part. You get a feel for the task, and the work itself often reveals an approach that makes the rest unnecessary.

The task is too difficult: how do I start?

If a task feels too difficult, it has not yet been broken down enough. Ask an expert, such as your teacher, ChatGPT or Google, to break it into easier pieces.