Increased productivity. It sounds nice, doesn’t it? But often times that phrase is thrown around as a buzzword.
In what ways can you really increase your productivity?
A cup of coffee or a ginseng infused energy-drink is only going to last you for so long before you get the inevitable ‘crash’ that follows a burst of short-lived, Adderall-fueled productivity.
The key to increasing your productivity, and sustaining it, is leveraging your natural energy levels.
Taking control of your energy levels is first and foremost about understanding yourself; the natural rhythm of your body’s energy surges and dips, and harnessing those peaks of energy when they occur. It’s a unique cycle with patterns.
Many people make the mistake of trying to push through a task when they are near exhausted and have no more creative input to give. This is the wrong approach – you can’t wring out water from a dry sponge.
Understanding your cycles of energy and maximizing your energy bursts will ultimately make you more productive.
Also, recognizing instances when you are no longer being productive and giving yourself permission to stop and taking a deliberate rest (read: not procrastinating) is just as crucial to harnessing your natural energy levels as capitalizing your energy peaks.
Giving Your Brain a Chance to Rest Does Not Equate to Spending the Day at a Spa
These breaks don’t necessarily have to be long in duration. Instead, it could be taking a 20-minute nap, going for a walk, stretching or meditating.
Hint: physicality helps to take your mind off of tasks if you’re someone who tends to get stuck in your head easily.
Whatever it is, be strict with yourself. For this break period try not to let task-oriented thoughts creep in, this is your time to rest and replenish.
Finally, identifying symptoms of burnout and taking preventative measures to stop yourself from becoming burnt out are important pieces for learning how to sustain your energy levels long-term.
If you want to level up your energy output and leave fatigue at the door, sign up to get exclusive access to better understand how to embrace and improve your unique energy levels.
Learn to Recognize Your Natural Rhythms of Energy Throughout the Day
I’m a big fan of ultradian rhythms.
“What the heck are ultradiauhh?” you may ask, mouth slightly ajar.
Ultradian rhythms are your body’s natural cycles of energy. Just like a wave, sometimes your energy levels are more powerful and sometimes they recede.
To break it down to the essentials, after 90-120 minutes of sustained energy output (i.e prolonged focus) you need a 15-20 minute break.
You heard me! 15-20 whole minutes – no cheating!
Why? Because your body uses this time to replenish, repair, and restore itself. It’s like refueling your creative juices so that you can prepare for another 90-120 minutes of mental focus.
Ultradian rhythms are the key to stamina. Getting through an entire workday and maximizing your productivity requires ultradian rhythm breaks throughout the day.
What’s the alternative?
If you refuse to take breaks you will make more errors, experience higher levels of stress and fatigue, and lower immunity (since the body is stressed). No one wants that.
Nike Doesn’t Know All
The next step to understanding your own ultradian rhythms is seeing when are you at your ‘peak’ energy levels. Don’t ‘just do it’, first you must:
- Understand when do you feel the most energetic?
- Find out what times of the day work best to do certain kinds of work
- Get Clear on how do you do to manage your energy during the day?
Measure Your Energy and Find Interesting Patterns through the week (Exercise)
With this worksheet, you’ll be able to track how much energy you have during different parts of the day. If you do this for a week, you’ll notice patterns in how your energy flows, allowing you to plan your work accordingly.
Based on your data, you can tweak the duration of the 90-minute work session, the 20-minute healing break, or both. Try different combinations and continue to test and learn.
Meanwhile, try to internalize your experiences so you can eventually do away with the Pomodoro timer altogether (you’ll read about that tool here).
Ideally, you’ll reach a point where you have become more familiar with your body’s signals, and can recognize when you need to take a break and when you feel refreshed enough to return to work.
It’s not just an exercise in productivity, it’s also an exercise in getting to know yourself better!
By charting your energy, you can schedule each day’s tasks based on when you have the most energy, focus, and motivation, and plan your entire day accordingly!
You can also visually see intriguing trends in your day, like how much of a morning bird or night owl you are.
”Constantly reflect on how much energy you have, and act accordingly. When you constantly ask yourself how much energy you have, you can make adjustments to either recharge when you’re low on energy, or take on bigger, badder tasks when you have a lot of energy. You’ll also start to notice trends after a while.
Chris BaileyAuthor of Hyperfocus
The Peak of Your Energy Levels = Focus Time
An effective tool for measuring and maximizing 90-minutes of deliberate and intentional practice is the Pomodoro Technique.
If you are like me, you are probably obsessed with productivity and have already heard this technique.
It’s all about breaking your work in cycles in 30-minute periods of uninterrupted work with 10-minute breaks in between.
The entire cycle is repeated four times (for a total of 2hr and 20min) before you take a longer break after the fourth work session.
Where most people fail at Pomodoro is they don’t create a deliberate and intentional practice.
Want to read more about setting better intentions before you start working on a task? I’ve listed the 5 most important questions to answer before starting a Pomodoro Cycle, check it out!
Unfocused Time at the Peak of Your Low Levels
Listen up because this part is important.
Rest and recovery are not optional. If you don’t rest now, your body will force you to rest later, either by cycling down longer than usual or getting sick.
During a natural ‘down cycle’, go for a walk, meditate, or take a twenty-minute nap. Relaxing on the down cycle can restore your energy, allowing you to take full advantage of the next ‘up cycle’.
Want to read more about what to do when you’re feeling low? I’ve listed 5 very important things to do when you go through the ‘down cycle’.
To best use your energy levels for max productivity you must first have actual data to base this understanding off of. (Hint: do not go off of your ‘hunches’. They are often inaccurate).
Use this data to understand at what times of the day you’re more likely to focus and have deliberate and intentional practice, and then work around those times.
