{"id":37746,"date":"2017-09-27T04:45:08","date_gmt":"2017-09-27T09:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/?p=37746"},"modified":"2017-09-27T04:45:08","modified_gmt":"2017-09-27T09:45:08","slug":"not-energizer-bunny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/not-energizer-bunny\/","title":{"rendered":"You Are Not the Energizer Bunny"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the most important lessons I have learned about productivity is this: It\u2019s less about managing time and more about managing energy.<\/p>\n\n

Why? Because time is fixed, but our energy can flex. Most people get this exactly backward. They cram their day with tasks, thinking they can get it all done. Instead, they end up working more and more hours, less and less efficiently<\/a>, because they wear themselves out.<\/p>\n\n

Bonkers Bankers\u2019 Hours<\/h3>\n

Maybe you can identify. According to Gallup, the average workweek is closer to 50 hours than 40, and for some of us, it's a lot more.<\/p>\n

Alexandra Michel is a former banker who teaches at University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. She conducted a twelve-year study of investment bankers who regularly worked between\u2014get this\u2014100 and 120 hours a week<\/a>. There are only 168 hours in a week, so these financial workers were shorting sleep, relationships, self-care, and more.<\/p>\n

The banks offered round-the-clock administrative help, along with meal and laundry services and other domestic assistance. Michel found that these bankers were amazingly productive for the first few years, given their solitary focus, but it didn\u2019t last.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cStarting in year four, bankers started to experience sometimes debilitating physical and psychological breakdowns,\u201d Michel writes. Their long list of problems included \u201cchronic exhaustion, insomnia, back and body pain, autoimmune diseases, heart arrhythmias, addictions, and compulsions, such as eating disorders.\u201d<\/p>\n

And these problems bred other problems for their employers, in the form of plummeting productivity, \u201cdiminished judgment,\u201d and lowered \u201cethical sensitivity.\u201d In the banking industry, that can be a recipe for financial ruin.<\/p>\n

Rejuvenate to Great<\/h3>\n

What the bankers\u2014and all people who suffer from overwork\u2014really<\/em> need to get their energy back up<\/a> is rejuvenation.<\/p>\n

We are not machines. We can\u2019t just keep going and going like the Energizer Bunny. When we work too long, we badly need to recharge or we lose energy and focus.<\/p>\n

The good news is that energy is a renewable resource, but only if it\u2019s managed correctly. There are at least 5 strategies for rejuvenation that I discuss in my Free to Focus\u2122<\/em> course<\/a>. One of those strategies is to get enough rest. Here are 3 ways to go about doing that.<\/p>\n

1. Make Sleep a Priority<\/h4>\n

First of all, you\u2019ve got to take an inventory. Do long work hours leave you fatigued? Does your body crave more sleep than you\u2019re getting? If so, then it\u2019s trying to tell you something which is glaringly obvious: You need more, and better, rest. You can get that rest but you\u2019re going to have to be purposeful about it. Resolve to rest and then do what it takes<\/a> to make that possible.<\/p>\n

2. Get a Better Night\u2019s Sleep<\/h4>\n

The easiest and best way to do that is to get a good night\u2019s sleep. That may be difficult with work pressures and children. But you can work toward it and, in the meantime, maximize the sleep that you are getting. There are many ways to do this, including:<\/p>\n