What’s the balance in your Energy Bank?

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Spring has sprung! The days are longer, the sunshine is brighter, and the grass is bright green. The other morning I woke to something I hadn’t heard in months; birds chirping outside my window at 4 am. It was an early wake-up call, but not an unwelcome one. Birds singing is a sure sign that we have entered the season of renewal.

When I was a kid growing up in Connecticut, winter seemed endless. When spring arrived, it was a time of excitement and optimism, a time of rebirth. Along with the new buds and blooms and buzzing bees came the seasonal ritual of spring cleaning. We’d open up the house to let in the fresh air and dispose of what no longer served us, making room for possibly something new. For me, spring has always been a time to refresh. 

But spring cleaning doesn’t have to just be for your home. The same practice is important for your leadership and life. The arrival of spring is the perfect time for us to consider what old and dusty tasks and practices we should let go of to create room for something new and important. So this month, I want to inspire you to take stock of what fills you up and what depletes you, so you can create more space in your life and work for fulfillment. 

"So long as a person is capable of self-renewal they are a living being." - Henri Frederic Amiel

Ponder this…

When you’re doing some mental spring cleaning, it can be tempting to just grab your to-do list and start slashing, but let’s try a more impactful way. 

Instead, take note of what fills you up and what drains you, especially if you’re feeling burned out. As the saying goes, “How we spend our days is how we spend our lives,” and there can be major differences between what fills your calendar and what fills your soul. Is your work and life packed with tasks that are just taking up time? If so, I want to help you get focused on what’s important to you so you have the energy to make an impact on the world.

Enter the Energy Bank exercise. I am a sucker for a good 2x2 and this one delivers a lot of bang for the buck. First, create a 2x2 chart (or download mine here). In the left two quadrants, list what gives you energy and joy in both your personal and professional life. In the right quadrants, list what depletes you. It should look something like this. 

When I complete my Energy Bank, on the left side is meeting with my executive coaching clients, helping teams go from good to great, and speaking engagements….These all fill me up. But other parts of running a business, like administrative tasks and accounting work, suck my soul dry. And on the personal side of things, time with family and friends and simple pleasures like walking my dog fill me up. Cooking dinner at the end of a long work day? Not so much. 

Once you’ve completed your Energy Bank, step back and take stock. Are your fulfilling tasks outnumbering your draining tasks? What changes can you make, either in your activities or in your interactions with others? For me, I try to delegate and outsource the work tasks that drain me. And that tiring weekday meal prep? I’m continually refining solutions for that too. These changes may seem minor, but the results add up.

As you review all that is going on in your work and life, try to say “no” to those tasks and people that deplete you (btw, I know saying no can be hard, especially to your boss; here’s an HBR article I wrote about that). The simple truth is that you will feel better - and be far more effective - if you can primarily invest your time and energy into the things and people that energize you.

Learn More

Want to learn more about conserving your energy and making space for what fills you? Check out these great resources. 

Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time

I love this HBR article by Tony Schwartz and Catherine McCarthy, explaining the science of stamina and how little changes can create big results. 

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals

This provocative book upends the efficiency trap, offer refreshing insights (e.g.,“the real measure of any time management technique is whether or not it helps you neglect the right things”), and encourages us to embrace our finitude to construct a meaningful life.

How to gain control of your free time

This 2016 TedWomen Talk by Laura Vanderkam offers practical strategies to help find more time for what matters to us, so we can "build the lives we want in the time we've got."

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