It’s finite.
No one has unlimited time or energy. Not you. Not me. Not anyone. If you disagree, this post isn’t for you.
As I’ve gotten older, and experienced more in life, this fact continues to confront me. It confronts me in my career, at home with my family, and in the things I enjoy doing in my spare time. There’s only so much time you can spread across all things in life. The same goes for how your energy is allocated. For me, time and energy are like the yin and yang to a productive and harmonious life.
In his book “When”, Daniel Pink draws on research from psychology and biology, neuroscience and economics to share the scientific secrets of perfect timing. The premise of the book is that while there are smart ways for us to manage our energy relative to when (time of day) we expend it, most of us do a terrible job at it. I don’t intend to dive into the specifics of the book. I simply mention this to set an overarching theme for some of my personal learnings.
Bad news/good news. The bad news, as the title suggests, is that time and energy are not unlimited. The good news is that we get to choose how we spend it [time & energy]. Even if you don’t think that’s always true, I would argue that it is. If you’re reading this right now, you chose to spend time and energy on this instead of something else. (thanks for that). I chose to spend time and energy writing this post instead of doing something else.
Hopefully, by now, you’re starting to think of how you personally spend time and energy in life, work, play and more. Do you think you’re managing it well?
FRICTION
Unknowingly, we’re constantly creating unnecessary friction that causes us to waste time and energy. Engaging in unproductive conversations, worrying about things not in our control, focusing on the small things that don’t matter to the outcomes we aim to achieve. All of this shit creates friction. It slows us down. It sucks our energy. It wastes time better allocated to other things… more important things. A quote from the legendary book “The Art of War” sums up a better way, nicely:
“Win without fighting” ~ Sun Tzu
Sometimes friction will exist no matter how much we try to avoid it. The goal here is to minimize where possible. Minimal friction equals more time and energy to focus on the important. To me, Sun Tzu’s quote of “win without fighting” means exactly this. It means to get what you want with the least amount of friction. Or in his words, least amount of “fighting”.
WISE CHOICES
If you’re able to recognize these friction-causing events, you can choose to avoid them and cut them out. You can choose wisely to protect your limited time and energy. One way to foster better choices for our time and energy is to always reflect on what you’re ultimately trying to achieve. This could be anything from desired outcomes at work to spending more quality time with family and friends. The choices you make now impact the time and energy you can put into achieving those outcomes. Ever have an exhausting day at work that depletes you of any energy to put into family time later that day? I’ve experienced this plenty of times. The value I place on time with family has had a bigger influence over how I conserve energy throughout the day. This points back to friction avoidance.
COMMITMENT
Just because you’ve decided that spending your time and energy more wisely is best for you, doesn’t mean that those around you do the same or care about your choices. Your colleagues, as nice as they are, don’t keep your time or energy in mind when they schedule meetings, interrupt your flow, or engage you in work that does not align with your priorities. It’s not malicious, it’s just the way things tend to work.
This all means that it’s 100% on you to maintain the commitment to choose wisely and reduce friction in your day to day. If you allow your day to be consumed with work or activities that slow you down or keep you from achieving the outcomes you’re after, that’s your fault. Are there exceptions to this rule, probably. If you can maintain commitment most of the time, however, you’ll be in better shape than a good majority of people.
I generally write to reinforce ideas in my own mind, but hope this is helpful to you as well.
Sincerely,
Your pal Time & Energy
