These Energy Management Tips are provided by Busy.Coach, a great source of ideas for the coach that wants to improve their productivity
By Mandy Green
For coaches to be at the top of their game, to be action oriented, fast moving, and extremely productive, you have to have high levels of physical and mental energy. In July I spoke at The Alliance of Women’s Coaches Conference about a 5X50 method that I learned from Brendon Burchard. This has helped me to create more sanity and less stress to my day. I have written about a lot of these before, but I can’t stress enough how important they all are
1. Sleep 50 minutes more.
Unless you usually sleep 8 hours per night, bump your regular sleep routine up by 50 minutes. This means go to bed 50 minutes earlier. That extra sleep will improve your cognitive scores by 22% within 7 days. Nice! Plus, you’ll have more energy to get stuff done, and you’ll be kinder to others – yep, the science proves it.
2. Spend 50 minutes in the morning stretching and strategizing.
Stretch for 20 minutes (I recommend yoga) then strategize your day for 30 minutes. This means you do not check email or respond to others in the first 50 minutes of the day. This alone will change your life. The inbox is nothing but a convenient organizing system of other peoples’ agendas; so if you begin the day in your inbox you are framing the day in reaction not thought. Instead, get in tune with your body, then sit down and decide on the major projects and priorities you will dramatically move forward today. If you’re not strategizing and actually *thinking* about your day, goals and life for 30 minutes per day, you’re not yet living an intentional and fully conscious life.
3. Work/create in 50-minute scheduled blocks.
During these blocks, NOTHING is allowed to happen except your focus and work. (See what happens when you try to cover too many things at the same time in precious articles of mine about multitasking…) You don’t take calls, look at your inbox, browse, or start other activities. You do ONE THING. I block 3-4 of these per day and it’s why, in just a few years, I became “the most prolific content developer and trainer in the personal development world. It’s how I amassed 3MM followers and built an 8-figure company. FOCUS.”
4. Every 50 minutes, take a BREAK.
I set an alarm on my phone to go off every 50 minutes. It helps me get that block time done, but it also makes sure I stand, stretch and hydrate every hour. No matter what I’m doing, no matter how interested or passionate I am, at the 50-minute mark I stand, get water, stretch or walk, even if just for 3-10minutes. It refreshes the mind, allows the body to re-align after sitting, and builds up tremendous stores of energy.
5. Create 50 minute renewal times.
I do 20 minutes of the Release Meditation Technique every day, and I also walk briskly OUTSIDE for 30 minutes – EVERY day. That’s 50 minutes in the day total to completely focus on energy renewal. Yes, I also work out every other day, but that is not counted in this or the other 50 minute blocks, but yours could. This 50 minutes of total renewal each day is a MUST for high performers who want to be creative, energized and without gobs of stress.