The Simple Truth I Consistently Forget

Energy multiplies time

It amazes me how we actively make our time less valuable.

Take me, for example.

Last night, I made a few bad decisions and ended up losing about 1.5 hours of sleep. The result? Today, I felt like my brain was sludging through concrete for every decision.

The funny part is I still had to pay the sleep debt by taking a nap for 1.5 hours.

Energy makes time more valuable

Chris Bailey says that for every hour of sleep lost, he loses 2 hours of productivity. Now, that might sound extreme, but I tend to agree. Some days it’s more, some days it’s less.

Let’s think about my nap for a second. Sure, I could have used those two hours I slept and worked instead, but I probably would have been running on about 30% capacity. Contrast that with after the nap, where now I’m at about 90% capacity. Roughly speaking, I can now get 3 hours worth of work done in 1 hour, simply because I am more energized.

Nap already paid for.

The difference between Austin, who’s sleep deprived, and Austin, who’s energized, is more than a little significant. Energized Austin is much more kind, understanding, productive, thoughtful, less stressed, and overall more enjoyable to be around.

Sleep-deprived Austin… well, steer clear.

Here’s what I’ve come to learn.

The more energy you have, the more valuable your time is.

On almost every front possible.

And yet, speaking from personal experience, managing my energy properly is usually not at the forefront of my mind.

Why?

Time management.

For years, we’ve been focusing on managing our time to perfection. We’ve glorified time to the point that we’ve lost sight of the other factors that allow us to make the most OF our time.

Take of from me, more time doesn’t mean automatically more productivity, achievement, or efficiency. And surprisingly, it doesn’t necessarily mean less stress.

Don’t get me wrong, time management is really important. But I think we doom scroll because we are exhausted from the moment we wake up, not because we aren’t sure how to manage our time.

Low energy = lower quality choices

Speaking of bad choices, I know how unhealthy Red Bull is, but when I’m sludging through brain fog, it doesn’t seem like such a bad idea. Which is exactly what I did today in fact. It didn’t help. $4 down the drain for fake energy.

Energy management

That’s what I call this.

Why?

Because it’s time to start managing our energy like our time.

In my opinion, people don’t talk about this enough. No one bothered telling me, “Hey Austin, want to get more done, be happier, feel less stressed, have tons of energy, and generally not be sour to be around? Try recharging properly.”

It’s not rocket science.

Maybe that’s why we don’t like it.

But energy management is just one of the two things we need to treat with more intentionality.

I won’t repeat myself. If you want to read how I go about solving this, read this post.

Until then, try getting an extra hour of sleep.

I think it’ll surprise you the difference it makes.