“Manage your energy, not your time” – Tony Schwarz

This morning I am up early, my eight year old and my twelve year old next to me in bed, asleep. Being up before the family is my today form of wellness. It’s my time and I choose to write and watch the sunrise before my little roosters start crowing and we all get going. As my day moves forward and the workday begins, how do I best bring that feeling of taking care of myself into the day? The answer is easy. I make the day about me and what I love to do. When you love what you do, wellness comes in so many forms. Many do not love what they do. They may like it, at least enough. The mundane part still exists and yet the future looks so bright and the income is significant, so they get through it and pretty well.

But wellness suffers in the daily grind. We can’t find the time to deliver on our promises, concurrently, to our company and ourselves. We lose vital energy and become clock watchers waiting for the day to be done. Spending a small fraction of your day focused on you regardless of what’s happening around you is the way out. It won’t be unicorns and rainbows but it will be living the work day instead of it living you.

That focus on you for me is always about how to bring back my energy levels. I like to do this by moving my body. I can’t be effective on the “super important” phone call if I’ve been sitting still for 2 hours, not drinking water and not moving my body. Mostly not drinking water – this area in my life is really ready for big improvement.

My partner at work just can’t function with less than 9 hours of sleep. She is aware her daily energy is powered by sleep. So aware that she sets up her day to make sure it happens. And when it doesn’t she needs a way to deal with the fallout when it just doesn’t work to lay down in the middle of the day and take a nap. She turns to meditation and acupressure to manage stress when out of sorts.

So find out. Take a fraction of a moment and discover what part of your day is least fun and causes the biggest feeling of yuck. And can you and are you willing to find out what it takes to make it better?