Energy levels: How to Manage & Cultivate Personal Energy

The level and quality of our energy – as well as our physical and emotional state – play a key role in modern life. They influence our efficiency and productivity incredibly, and as a result the quantity and quality of our business and everyday activities. Nowadays, most people live in “high gear”, with densely-filled, multitasking lives. So, what can we do to better support ourselves?

1. Take care of your physical body. Eat food that is good for you; I do not eat sugar, nor do I drink alcohol or coffee. It’s not because it’s the “fashionable” thing to do, but it’s the result of observing the conditions of my well-being. Good sleep and regular physical activity, including walking in fresh air, are also very important; I can hardly imagine a day without walking in the forest. Such routines are good for relaxation and calming down after a hard working day. One more thing that is underestimated is habitual posture – how we sit and place our legs, or align our back when we stand straight. Yoga or other activities may be helpful here. As for me, I regularly use an inversion chair to recover my posture.
2. Emotional culture. Try to escape from any kind of blame culture, negative thinking, extra criticism and rigidity of thinking and reactions. Minimize your interactions with toxic people. If you are meeting someone with such character, try to do your best to make this experience softer: meet in a good restaurant, control your emotions, or try to use different techniques in order not to be negatively affected by this person. And don’t forget to do something you like after your meeting – something lighter, more flexible, fluid, or easy going. Surround yourself with laughter, joy, humor and pleasure.

1. Behavioral habits. Do one thing at a time. Today, I don’t even look at my smartphone during meetings, whereas in the past I would open an email, become distracted and perhaps forget to answer it. As a result, I felt more tense having to do several things at once, and I used up more resources and had poorer productivity. I also find it very useful to limit my inner perfectionist and champion, as there are plenty of things you can do “normally” and not “ideally”. Not all of your presentations have to be works of art; sometimes, it’s more important to save time and other resources. When you progress in your career, you have to re-think your old habits.
2. Delegation. Delegate all you can to those who are there to support you – your team or other departments within your structure. I involve the financial and HR departments in our business activities, for example, and I prefer to appoint a project manager from our finance team where possible. I support positive, friendly relations with all departments, and I know what they are interested in and what motivates them, which allows me to tap into their resources for the benefit of the business. I find it very useful to free oneself from ideas of self-significance, over-control and the need to participate personally in most activities. For example, I don’t worry about who will send out notes on personnel changes, and I’m quite glad HR are there to do this and not me! I’m not addicted to any kind of power and I don’t see a threat to my authority in such situations, because these processes are reflected positively in my results and the ability to organize efficiently and make fast and optimal decisions.

Last year, I had responsibility for a number of global projects, and this year I made a decision to delegate them to my regional Managing Directors. I gave them a list of the projects and they chose one or two to manage – such as increasing the efficiency of our office spaces, worldwide training, or addressing cases of low performance. In the latter example, it is often the case that these individuals are incredibly talented, but their current roles are not able to tap into this skill-set. My regional MDs will recognize this, and work with them to find more suitable positions, for the benefit of the individual and the team. This delegation works very well; I free up my schedule, and they increase their own potential and that of their regions, as well as gain insight into the complexity of the global tasks facing our teams at Headquarters every day.?

Delegation is also useful in our personal lives. For example, you can delegate the planning and development of your language skills to your language teacher. If you have problems with delegation, you can even delegate this challenge to a business consultant to solve!?

1. Work-life balance. Spend more time with the people you love… with interesting people… with everyone who inspires you, and doing all the things that make you happy. But don’t forget to set aside some time for being alone – to rest, relax and recover!