Last week was school vacation some.  As a result, many of us were away with our families.  The challenges of coming back to work and getting back into the swing of things has been a common theme among  the conversations I’ve had with people in the past few days.  It is not always easy to switch gears and get right back into our routines.  Maybe that’s a good thing.  Maybe re-entry is a good time to look at how we’ve been operating and to determine if it is serving us or merely habit.  It’s a good time to take stock and see if we could be doing things differently in order to be more effective.  It’s a new beginning, like spring, a time to change it up.   For example, maybe its a good idea to start the day with a short meditation rather than opening email before taking your first sip of coffee.  Maybe it is time to eat a healthy breakfast instead of running on empty all morning or.  While I like to find symbolic change moments (like coming back from a vacation), any day will do to begin to make changes.  If you think you’d like to shake it up, follow these steps:

Create your schedule based on your energy clock vs. your wall clock.

To increase your awareness of your energy clock, assign windows of time to the following questions:

1.  When do you have the most energy?

2.  When does your energy wane?

3.  What helps you regain and sustain energy?  Try to avoid high sugar and caffeine loaded items that give you a quick surge and then cause you to crash.

4.  When do you have the least energy?

Now, try to match up your energy with your tasks. 

1.  Keep a log of what you do and when you do it each day for a week or two

2.  On a scale of 1-5 where 1 is low and 5 is high, assess how much energy is required for each activity listed above (it’s tempting to say they all need high energy but that probably isn’t true so be rigorous about your assessment.)

3.  Make a list of the things you don’t do that you wish you did.

4.  Next to each item on your wish list above, indicate how much energy you need (1 -5)

5.  On a calendar, insert the activites that you do now and that you wish you did but don’t get around to doing, in the time slots in which you have the most appropriate energy level to serve you.

Example:  I have more mental energy to do solitary, thoughtful things in the morning than I do in the afternoon.  I gain energy by interacting with others and doing things that require physical movement.  So, it is best for me to do my writing in the morning, when my energy is high and my mind is clear and focused.  Since interacting with others gives me an energy boost, I try to schedule my phone calls and meetings in the afternoon.  In the mid afternoon, it helps if I get up and take a short walk and perhaps grab a cup of tea before getting back to work.  Although those activities take time, I more than make up for it in renewed energy when I get back. 

Of course this scheduling strategy isn’t always possible, but I set out to follow it as often as I can.  When I am able, I feel less drained and more satisfied at the end of the day.  Go ahead, change it up!