Have you been yawning more and more recently? Keep your energy levels in check with these methods.

3 self-check questions

Though it seems more trivial than other productivity tips—like time management, energy management deserves more credits than we give it. When not maintained well, it could lead to job burnout which often goes unnoticed.

Ask yourself the following questions as the first step to assess if you might be prone to job burnout:

• Have you become cynical or critical at work, more than necessary?
• Do you lack satisfaction from your achievements, even when others praise you for it?
• Do you feel disillusioned about your job—meaning, it turns out to be less fulfilling than you thought it would be?

At extreme levels, you might need to take some immediate actions, like seeking support to professionals. Before you get to that point, it is important to know when to push yourself and when to loosen up the ties for work longevity.

Learn more about the possible root causes and risk factors of job burnout here .

4 types of interconnected energy

It’s time to take your work to the next level and see yourself as an athlete in your field. Some of us even use sports terms already to describe the way we work: sprints, ballpark, tackle, and more.

What’s the one thing athletes need to keep up in order to give their best game? Stamina. Here are the 4 elements of energy that you need to keep up at work to ensure your stamina does not run out a the wrong times:

1. Physical Energy: The BodyInadequate nutrition, exercise, sleep, and rest diminish people’s basic energy levels. It affects your emotions and focus. Your body as the physical vehicle is the center of your energy, and will feed off to the other energy forms.
2. Quality of Energy: EmotionsWhen you’re able to take more control of your emotions, you will improve the quality of your energy regardless of external pressures. This internal factor is the backbone of your decision-making especially at stressful times.
3. Focus of Energy: The MindMany of us view multitasking as a necessity in the face of all the demands we need to juggle, but more often than not it actually undermines productivity. Disruptions need to be minimized as distractions are costly.
4. Purpose of Energy: The Human SpiritPurpose is an enormous source of energy, often comes in the form of motivation. The high demands and fast pace of corporate life, unfortunately, don’t leave much time for us to pay attention and assess if what we do really aligns with our values.

Learn more about the 4 elements of energy above, and take the short quiz to see where each of your energy levels are in the Harvard Business Review piece here .

5 ways to cheat irregular energy levels

The slowing down of one’s work productivity does not just happen overnight. In most cases, it is built throughout a certain period of time. Missing one meeting could lead to feeling less engaged about a project, and then giving less effort to complete it.

When you feel your energy is starting to die down, there are ways you can to stop it from plummeting:

1. Identify what increases, or decreases, your energyMonitor your screen time. Set times during the day when you’ll read something on paper, or take a walk to talk to someone in person.Keep a food diary. Instead of obsessing on the calorie intake, you can pay attention to whether your energy spikes or dips after you eat a meal.Stick to a sleep schedule. Waking up around the same time each day, even if you’re not on the classic 9-to-5 schedule, can help you feel more energized.

1. Set boundaries to help preserve your energyTry to look into the environments and people that help you feel more (or less) energized by answering the following questions:Where do you get your best brainstorming done?Why do these spaces and faces give you an energy boost?What are the daily things you do that exhaust your energy the most?
2. Delegate tasks to help you stay organizedShare responsibilities, but responsibly. Learn more about how to delegate when you work with remote teams in our past edition here .Set your team up for success. Giving unclear instructions and deliverables isn’t delegating—it’s dumping. Be clear with timelines and success metrics.Check in and cheer on. Keep an open line of communication so that your team can ask you questions and you can offer reliefs for any blockers.
3. Mono-task instead of multitaskJot down your main tasks. List your top priorities and decide what to get done today. Do the highest-effort tasks when you feel the most energized.Schedule focus time. Reserving focus time on your calendar helps signal to your coworkers and managers that you need to work without interruptions.
4. Automate to help you achieve in less timeUse templates where available. You can refer to past projects, ask suggestions from your peers, or even look them up online.AI as your right hand. When you feel stuck, save your time on a 30-minute web search with one click on your trusted AI tool.Browser add-ons. Turn your work boat into a super-yacht by applying add-ons featured in this past Monday Mavens edition .

Interested to dive even deeper into maintaining your energy levels? Download the Energy Tracker by MailChimp and learn more about ways to manage your energy here .

Whether you work from the office, a café, or the comfort of your home, it’s important to strategize how to insert your energy and complete your daily tasks.

If you found any insightful tips in this week’s Monday Mavens edition, return the favor by simply sharing it with your peers and colleagues.

We appreciate every read, as it’ll surely fuel our energy for the week ahead!