How to Have More Mental Energy

Today I’m talking about energy. Having more of it. So you can be more focused for longer – and do more of the things that build your business!

If you wish you had more energy across your day, this is for YOU.

So many coaches I know – and whom I coach on business-building and productivity – feel like they only get a handful of fully energized hours in a given day. If even that.

And as I often say…

“Energy management is more important than time management. Because no matter how well you manage your time, if you have little energy, you’ll get little done.” -APB

…particularly when it comes to the energy-intensive work of business building: writing, creating new revenue streams, consistent follow-up, consistent marketing, etc.

So today I’ll share some of the hidden energy vampires that can undercut our daily productivity – thereby hobbling our business-building.

AND, I’ll share a few quick-win energy savers that can extend your mental stamina – even if you currently feel totally overwhelmed.

PLUS, get this video, gratis: 5 Mental Performance Secrets I Wish I Knew as a Struggling Executive. In it, I share the KEY secret to managing your brain’s energy; a simple hack for re-booting your brain, and a bunch more evidence-based, no-brainer ways to have more focus for the important work of growing your business! CLICK HERE to grab this complimentary video.

Imagine if you had more energy every day…

What would you do with it?

Start on that new or revised lead magnet you’ve been putting off?

Clean up your messy Social Media situation?

Write some powerful marketing emails?

Finish those website fixes you just haven’t had the energy to deal with?

Do more consistent prospect follow-ups?

We begin each day with a full tank of brain fuel, but throughout the day we’re burning it off. That’s a cold, hard fact. As Oprah Winfrey reminds herself in her every-morning mantra, “...There is a finite amount of time and energy in this day.”

And for us coaches trying to create more impact in the world, aspiring to serve more of our tribe -- our energy is indeed precious.

And yet…

We waste energy all day long – unknowingly and knowingly. That’s why…

We need to talk about “energy vampires”

Let’s first dispatch with two of the obvious energy-wasters we might tolerate on any given day…

Pseudo-Productivity: doing random tasks that feel productive but are really just ways to escape the important work we need to do. Checking emails repeatedly. “Cleaning up” your email inbox. Escaping into low-value work because you’re avoiding the harder task you swore you’d work on today. Tomorrow, I’ll go deeper into what’s called “Activity vs Action”, but what’s important to know about pseudo-productive tasks is that they burn energy just like more legitimate tasks.

And then, of course…

Social Media and News: We might “escape” into these multiple times across our day, rationalizing them as, “Hey, I’m just gonna take a ‘break’ for a few minutes.” Social media and news are not restful. They burn energy.

Can we all just pause, reflect on these energy vampires, and acknowledge them? Good. That acknowledgement alone is a start on reducing them.

Next, let’s talks about some hidden energy vampires. These don’t get talked about much by productivity experts, but they are even BIGGER energy vampires than the more obvious ones, starting with three not-so-sexy fundamentals...

ONE. Crappy Food: If you’re using sugar or simple carbs to get mental energy, you’re using the quick-burning, least-efficient fuel there is. Protein is where the sustained energy is.

Here’s a Quick-Win: keep a bag of raw nuts and some raisins handy whenever and wherever you work. The glucose in the raisins is the gasoline, and the fiber and protein extend the delivery curve of that fuel.

TWO. Crappy Sleep: This is too big a topic for today, but too little sleep reduces your available mental energy from the get-go every day. One easy fix? Ask yourself: “What time at night am I shutting off my screens?” I’ll just leave that there…

THREE. Crappy Lifestyle: Regular exercise increases mental stamina, and doing little or none ensures you will starve for mental energy when you need it.

Next, some subtle energy eaters associated with our typical workday...

Multitasking: According to a survey by The Energy Project, 66 percent of us can’t focus on one thing at a time at work. Not only when you multitask are you doing nothing fast, you are wasting energy in constantly switching between, and re-engaging in, the multiple activities.

Get into the habit of creating “immersive single-tasking sessions” on your toughest or most important to-do of the day. One 90-minute singletasking session a day is more “deep work” than a lot of coaches get across an entire week.

And here are two opportunities for energy-extending Quick-Wins if you can improve on them…

Clutter: To quote one prominent expert, “Clutter makes our senses work overtime on stimuli that aren't necessary or important.” Get visual clutter out of your line of sight where you do your work. Clutter also makes it more difficult to relax, both physically and mentally: that pile you’re not putting away or organizing – it’s stealing your precious energy every single minute that it’s in your line of sight – even in your peripheral vision.

The Quick-Win here is to do a desk RE-SET: Clear everything off your work surface and set a timer for two minutes. Put back into your workspace only the 3-7 items you use every single work session. The rest get moved out of your line of sight. And do a mini-re-set after each work session.

Your To-Do List: I talk a lot about the Zeigarnik Effect – which is when the multitude of undone to-dos on your to-do list burns mental energy by subconsciously reminding us of all our un-done to-dos.

A Quick-Win here is, when you sit down to begin an immersive work session, keep your to-do list, your planner and your phone OUT OF YOUR LINE OF SIGHT. It’s a subtle thing, but trust me: the research is solid on this.

And speaking of research, if you want to learn more evidence-based mental performance secrets that can help you be more focused on the energy-intensive work of building your business, CLICK HERE to get my free video, 5 Mental Performance Hacks I Wish I Knew as a Struggling Executive!

In it, I share the main secret to managing your brain’s energy; a simple hack for re-booting your brain, and more powerful “brain hacks”!

And if you never seem to have enough time in the day, this post all about how to have more time every day is for you!

OK, that’s all for now.

In the meantime, remember: Whatever’s in your way…is yours to CRUSH!!

What are your thoughts on this topic? I'd love to know. Shoot me an email at [email protected] or DM me on Instagram @alanpbrown.