How To Unplug From Distractions And Plug Into Your Own Vital Energy
This post was originally published in Forbes Magazine on July 22, 2019. You can read the post on Forbes website here. Laura Maloney is a member of the Forbes Coaches Council.
My interest in time and energy efficiency began long before I founded a management consulting firm for purpose-driven people and organizations. It actually stems from my time as the COO of a national nonprofit. Anyone who’s worked for a nonprofit or startup knows just how driven and passionate you must be. Maintaining a healthy work-life balance that generates more energy than it depletes can be difficult, even when you’re driven by the cause. And it’s a growing concern for more people, as the nonprofit sector continues to expand and technological advancements drive historically high venture capital investments in startups.
I used to work from 7:30 in the morning until 11:00 at night, eating meals at my desk and hardly ever exercising. I did that for years, until I could no longer pretend it was a sustainable lifestyle. So I started tracking my time and becoming aware of focus and energy drains throughout my day.
What I’ve learned – and what I stress to my clients – is that unplugging from technology and other distractions allows us the opportunity to plug into our own energy, as well as a universal energy that’s much larger than ourselves. When we focus on harvesting this kind of energy, we can work much more efficiently and actually enjoy our lives, without the guilt that can accompany doing work you love.
Here are a few of the best strategies I’ve found to achieve this harmony.
Track and block your time.
As a COO, I was always available, forward-facing and people-focused. Visitors were regularly dropping in and out of my office at unpredictable intervals. Of course, I wanted to be responsive, but knew I also needed to squeeze time. So I started tracking those drop-ins and all other activity, as well as the cost of reorienting myself after each interruption.
I also began blocking my time, to minimize and consolidate distractions while capitalizing on my most productive hours of the day. I dedicated my mornings to uninterrupted project work, when I would close my office door and not book any meetings unless they were beyond my control. I reserved my afternoons for meetings, during which – as an extrovert – I gained energy working with others after a stint of single-minded concentration.
Ask for support.
Before I made these shifts in my time management, I asked my entire team for support by saying, “I’m going to experiment with this new workflow, so if you see my door shut, please hold off unless it’s an emergency.” Getting to this level of actualization required being honest with myself about my needs, then asking others to honor my boundaries.
The response I received was overwhelmingly positive. Asking your colleagues to support your best workflow gives them permission to ask you to support their best workflow. The result is mutually beneficial, so that no one has to be at their desk until 11:00 at night. Talking about time management with your colleagues also gives you the opportunity to pool strategies. If someone you work with is great at “inbox zero,” for example, initiating a conversation about time and energy efficiency might improve the way you handle email.
Replace visual noise with meaningful visualization.
Many people, myself included, get distracted by visual noise. Make sure your desk is clean at the end of each night and the beginning of each day. Remove piles of paperwork that you can’t work through at the moment, because physical clutter creates mental clutter.
But don’t underestimate the power of the right images. Creating a vision board with images that remind you of why you chose the work you’re doing in the first place can instinctually trigger purpose and focus without the energy expenditure of reading and comprehending words.
Visualization can help improve public speaking, too. Athletes have long used visualization techniques to imagine and then execute the perfect performance. Remembering times you’ve previously been successful in front of an audience can help you recreate that experience. The mindbody connection is one of your most vital tools. Simply generating a reality in your mind is often enough to realize that same reality in your body.
Incorporate exercise into your workflow.
A big impetus for changing the way I manage time and energy was reading about Condoleezza Rice’s exercise routine. I thought to myself, “If she can make time for exercise, surely I can, too.” I don’t have a treadmill or standing desk in my office, but when I need to really think about something, I take a walk. Many people mistakenly think they’re not working hard enough if they’re taking exercise breaks. But exercise can actually help you do your best work. Creative and entrepreneurial people often come up with their best ideas when they’re exercising. I experience this phenomenon in spin class, when I often have to take out my phone to jot down ideas. All of this goes back to the mindbody connection; mental, emotional and physical fitness are all intertwined.
Choose the right dopamine feedback loop.
It’s no secret that the overwhelming majority of us – up to 73% – are addicted to our smartphones and the dopamine rush we get from checking email and social media. But putting your phone down and truly focusing on work that is important and meaningful can create its own powerful feel-good surge that is not only satisfying in the short term but much more beneficial in the long term. By creating an environment that facilitates the right mood and mindset, you can enter your own cognitive universe and plug into the unique, sustainable energy that works best for you.