Over the past few episodes, I’ve been focusing on energy management and how that can help you become a more productive entrepreneur.
But I know I’m always curious to see what individuals’ daily and weekly routines would look like. And I know the value of seeing something put into practice rather than it just being theoretical.
So today, I’m pulling back the curtain to share with you what my own energy management routine looks like right now.
So you ready to dive in?
Big Takeaways:
- Discover what my own energy management routine looks like right now. As I break down my: sleep rhythms, eating habits, work routine & self-care.
- Learn why it’s important to audit and allow changes in routine in each new season of life.
- Listen in to hear the action step that you can take right now to help you move forward and begin to implement immediately to create your own energy management routine.
Links in this Episode:
- Ep 033: Optimize Your Energy for Ultimate Productivity
- Amy Shah’s I Am So Effing Tired Book
- Pomodoro Method
- Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton book series
- DM me on Instagram
Rather read than listen? ⬇️
So, over the past few episodes, I’ve been focusing on energy management and how that can seriously help you become a more productive entrepreneur and woman in general. But I know I’m always curious to see what individuals’ daily and weekly routines look like and I know the value of seeing something put into practice rather than it just being theoretical nice-to-know info. So today I’m pulling back the curtain to share with you what my own energy management routine looks like. Ready to dive in?
So, I have decided to begin pulling back the curtain and being totally transparent with different aspects of my business in what I am calling Behind The Scenes episodes of this podcast. While I’ve always shared openly about my own business and haven’t hidden anything, I know the value of intentionally taking a look at lessons as I am learning them so you learn them as well. And this is one of those episodes.
A Few Words Before We Get Into It
Before I dive into my own routines, I want to remind you of why this all matters. Remember,
Focused action + energy management + rest & relaxation = optimum productivity.
True productivity is sustainable meaning you are able to keep it up without burning out.
And one more thing before we dive in: I am sharing my own routines as inspiration for you and to see what’s possible. I encourage you to get curious about building your own routines and begin to experiment with different strategies. My own routines change from season to season and I highly recommend you audit yours every so often or whenever they feel like they aren’t working for you any longer.
My Own Routines for Managing My Energy Well
Monitoring my sleep for the past several weeks and shooting for at least 7 and a half hours at night, naps on weekends, and a fairly consistent bedtime and wake time, yes, even on weekends. So I try to get in bed by 9:15pm, give myself a little time to fall asleep and then get up at 6am. Some weekend mornings it is more like 7am. This means that I am consuming less tv, especially in the evenings, reading more analog books to avoid staring at blue light emitting screens close to bedtime, getting bright sunlight early in the day (aka before 10am), and eating dinner earlier. I wear my fitbit to track sleep and always see how high I can get the number. Just yesterday, I got 9 hours and 39 minutes between a restful night of sleep and an hour and a half long nap.
In terms of movement, I attempt 10k every day and have been adding in gentle movement like yoga. Though I am currently working on setting up a workout room where we are currently living, so workouts of all kinds will be easier and I don’t have to study my form in the reflection of the dryer. Full disclosure, we live with my parents with literally no space for a workout room until very recently, so I would workout in the laundry room most mornings. And finally a daily part of my starting work routine and even my after lunch routine is 3-minute dance parties when I start to feel unmotivated or sluggish. To Jo Bro songs to be sure.
When I am working I use the Pomodoro technique which is where I do focused work for 25 minutes followed by a 5 minute break to stretch, get water, go to the bathroom, check IG, 3-minute dance party, and then after 4 of these blocks I take a longer break. Yes, I do use the timer on my phone for this.
And I batch like tasks together – I keep meetings to Wednesdays and Thursdays, focus on content on Mondays, education/professional development/planning is Tuesdays, and Fridays are for catching up or running errands. Saturday mornings are regular cleaning, Saturday afternoons are fun/adventure/naps. Sundays are potpourri days with a focus on self-care and planning for the week ahead like meal prep & weekly calendar planning.
I am experimenting with circadian fasting, a concept I recently learned about in Amy Shah’s book, I’m So Effing Tired (highly recommend this read). Circadian fasting is a type of intermittent fasting, which basically means that you limit your food intake to a certain number of hours daily and fast for the remaining hours. In most intermittent fasting, you skip breakfast and your food intake window is usually lunch (around noon) to later evening (8pm or so). With circadian fasting you still have a food intake window and a fasting window, but it is more aligned with your natural circadian rhythms, meaning that you stop eating by 6p or so and fast until 8a or 9a.
I am eating primarily plant-based and as little processed as possible (prob an 80/20 split is a good calculation, which I am happy about). After reading Amy Shah’s book, I have been incorporating more and more cruciferous veggies into my diet, like cauliflower, while being conscious of food sensitivities. And try to have my heaviest meal mid-day or before 5pm. I have also been enjoying tea in the early evening while decompressing after work, which may be more to do with my resurgent obsession with Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton book series, but hey, there is something very proper and soothing about afternoon tea, so if nothing else, it’s good for my soul. Recently a nice black tea with a bit of stevia and oat milk has been my go to.
I drink at least 80oz of water each day as well.
Of course, I plan my months, weeks, and days ahead of time and try not to over-schedule myself, giving myself no more than 3 priority tasks in one day and 2 major projects in a given week.
Each morning, I do my CJG routine which is an hour where I drink my coffee, plan out my day, do my gratitude journal, write out my goals, and journal on anything that I feel coming up. You may remember from ep 033 that physical energy isn’t the only consideration. we also have to think about emotional energy and purpose/fulfillment. By having this CJG as part of my daily routine, I ensure that any emotions get journaled about, I’m checking in with myself, and realigning with my goals that I’m working towards.
Every Sunday, I take a luxurious bath with lavender and Epsom salts as a reset and a way to decompress before diving back in on Monday.
And a really important part of my routine: I am regularly evaluating those people that I spend my time with to ensure that they are not a constant drain on my energy and if they are, removing them from my life, or drastically reducing their presence.
That’s it. Those are my energy management routines right now and I can honestly say that I feel more energized and get quite a bit accomplished every day and week without feeling like I am burning out or living in constant guilt of neglecting things & people that matter to me.
Action Step:
I always like to end each episode with an action step that you can take right now to help you move forward and begin to implement immediately. Here is your action step for this episode: What excited you about any part of my routine that I shared with you? What would you love to try out for yourself? And what do you certainly NOT want to try?
