One of the big challenges I see my career change clients facing is finding the time and energy to make the leap when their existing work life is so draining. Often that’s the very reason they want to make a change, but it’s also the reason they haven’t yet made it. Facing increasing demands and mounting pressure in their role, they are desperate for some kind of work-life balance, but don’t feel they have the internal resources to invest in finding an alternative – so frustrating!
I remember it well from my own former career. I’d come home at the end of the day exhausted and miserable, and the last thing I wanted or felt able to do was start visioning new possibilities or building my networks in a new industry. It was much easier to stick a ready-meal in the microwave, flop in front of the TV and moan about work to my flatmate.
In this way too, we often find that our “coping strategies” (junk food/entertainment, negative chat and a massive glass of wine) actually only serve to diminish our energy even further meaning we have even less of it to focus on our career change. Out of desperation for some time and energy, many people end up quitting their jobs without having a plan in place. But is there another answer?
I have recently been reading some of the work of Tony Schwartz of The Energy Project. Schwartz’s argument is that, while time is a finite resource, energy isn’t. We can therefore increase our productivity (and, presumably, our capacity to make a career change) by “managing our energy, not our time”.
Schwartz suggests that we have four main sources of energy – the body, emotions, mind and spirit. In each, he says, we can intentionally and regularly renew our energy by creating what he calls “rituals” - habits in our daily lives – and practicing these in order to make them become automatic to us. In this way, rather than just seeing our energy levels as the unavoidable consequence of our circumstances, we can be proactive in noticing and stopping what depletes us, and bringing in new energy-boosting behaviours. Pretty empowering stuff!
Here are some examples – have a read and see where you could use an energy injection…
Body
This is the source of our physical energy and, although it may seem obvious, how we treat our body is crucial if we want to increase the reserves to which we have access. For this reason, it needs to be our first check-in before we even consider the other energy sources. Some of the ways we can improve our physical energy are:
Avoid energy-depleting activities: Giving up things like alcohol, caffeine and smoking, which can decrease overall energy (even if they seem temporarily stimulating).
Eat less and often: Having smaller meals and light snacks every three hours in order to manage glucose levels – this can mean we have more energy throughout the day and in the evenings, rather than having a dip in the afternoon.
Work with the body's natural rhythms: Taking regular, short breaks at specific intervals and leaving the desk (if you work at one). Our body works in 90-120 minute cycles, called “Ultradian rhythms” during which they gradually shift from a high-energy state into a slump. As it comes to the end of a cycle, your body begins to crave some recovery time. If we don’t take these breaks, we end up drained and much less productive later in the day.
Emotions
How we are feeling affects the quality of our energy. Research shows that we are much more productive when our emotions are positive. Here are some ways to manage our emotions:
Buy Time: Stressors in our work lives can send us into fight-or-flight mode – our brain’s emergency response system – making us irritable or anxious, and making it difficult for us to make rational decisions or think clearly. Taking the time when we notice when we’ve been triggered - by the comment of a colleague, say, or a stressful situation – and to do some deep abdominal breathing or to go for a bit of fresh air, switches off this reactive system in our brains and allows us to respond from a calmer state of being.
Show appreciation to others: this has been shown to increase our own positive emotions as well as the person we’re interacting with. Scheduling in time to do this – say by having lunch with a member of your team or setting up weekly mentoring sessions with more junior staff – can ensure this becomes a habit in how we interact with those around us.
Change the stories we tell ourselves: Many don’t realise that we have a choice in how we see the world and what happens to us. By becoming aware of the difference between what is factually true in a particular situation and the way we have interpreted it, we can choose to see it from more of a more positive and self-empowering perspective.
Mind
Our minds determine how we focus our energy. Here are three ways to ensure we’re focusing in an energy-efficient way:
Cut down on multitasking: When we’re pulled in many different directions at once, we have less capacity to get things done. Every time we get distracted from the task at hand – known as “Switching Time” – the original task takes us 25% longer to complete. This is the kind of behaviour that means we end up working late and are exhausted by the end of the day. Focusing on one thing at a time can really help with this, and Schwartz recommends what he calls “ultradian sprints.” – focusing on one thing for 90-120 mins (the length of one of those energy rhythms) and then switching to something else.
Reduce digital distraction: Modern technology means we’re constantly being bombarded by bleeps and notifications, and mean that other people often get to set the agenda for our day with their emails and instant messages. By leaving the phone on silent when you’re at work or in a meeting, turning off instant messaging and possibly even choosing to only look at your emails at certain designated times in the day, we can take back control of our day and where our energy is focused.
Focus on the stuff that matters: Do you sometimes get to the end of the day and feel like you’ve been super busy but haven’t achieved anything tangible? This can be really de-energising. Making time for non-urgent, but important work can help with this and ensure that you are getting work done that will really make a long-term difference (including your career change!) rather than constantly firefighting. To do this, decide what is the most important task for you to achieve the night before or first thing in the morning, and make that your first priority before you get swept up in non-important non-urgent tasks (which are an easy distraction).
Spirit
Often people don’t know what that is or see the importance of it, especially if their energy is depleted in other ways, but feeding the human spirit by finding purpose and meaning in your life is crucial in building and sustaining energy. Here are some of the ways you can do this:
Prioritise your time: Consciously allocate time in your life to whatever is most important – family, friends, activities, health, your career, giving back to your community – and make sure you have the energy and focus to dedicate to it. This may mean turning off the work phone at a certain time or scheduling time in your calendar and treating it like a meeting you absolutely can’t miss.
Live your core values throughout the day: Honouring our values really puts fuel in our engines. If, for example, you have a value around authenticity, you can remind yourself to be as truthful to yourself and others as you can. If one is generosity, you could commit to doing one kind/generous act every day, even if it’s just making a co-worker a cup of tea.
Do work that really matters to you and that feeds your energy and your spirit, rather than depletes it. To know what that might look like (as well as seeing a career coach!) you could ask yourself questions like:
o What do you want to be remembered for?
o What do you most enjoy?
o What are you naturally good at – your talents?
The answer to fulfilling, energising work, is likely to lie at an intersection of all three of these areas.
If you’re interested in all of this, I highly recommend you read more from The Energy Project or check out Tony Schwartz’s TED Talk – ‘The way we work isn’t working’.
You could also do a little audit on yourself in each of the four areas. In which of them - body/mind/emotional/spiritual – do you feel you are most in need of an energy boost?
Let me know in the comments below...