“One of the biggest myths in organisations is that being effective requires time management. However, we would challenge this and claim that actually it’s all about energy management, if you don’t have enough energy, three weeks won’t be enough time even for the simplest task!”, explains Jeremy Moore, who has been a coach at Zoomcow.

When we wake up in the morning our tank is full of energy, but as the day goes on we lose energy and it slowly runs out. While this is a reality for most of us, Jeremy Moore challenges it with a technique he has been teaching for over 20 years in his coaching sessions.

Taking responsibility of your energy

For example, when you forget a friend's birthday, are late for a meeting or have to do a task you don't want to do, such as cleaning your car, you feel negative, even if you are not aware of it. On the other hand, there are positive events in your day that boost your energy, for example, if someone invites you to dinner or you have an exciting meeting.

These emotions are all almost involuntary, but there are ways to control them, otherwise everything will go wrong when the bad ones start to consume all your energy. "That birthday you forgot is still there stealing your energy", just like the car, if you don't do anything, it won't clean itself. However, most of us ignore the negatives, but the only way to make them go away is to face them.

And how can we do that? It is very simple. Jeremy has introduced a new technique that you can use over the course of your day, especially in the morning.

Deposits and withdrawals

Every day, make a list on a piece of paper. On the left side, write down the deposits, which are the things you are going to do that day that will lift your spirits. Then, on the right side, you can write down the ones that you assume will take your energy from you.

This is a very simple exercise, which only takes few minutes. "Don't write explanations, just the key words. You can take three minutes maximum to do this exercise. It doesn't have to be perfect, just two or three things," he told me.

"The idea is to get rid of the things that take your energy away. Get them done and cross them off the list so that your withdrawals list becomes smaller. By removing them, you feel good. Also, when you think about the good things as you write them down, it gives you an extra bonus of energy”, Jeremy said.

“Even when you are faced with a tragic situation that you cannot change", you can transform the way you feel about it. “So, let’s say, if a loved one has a terminal disease you can at least make sure you communicate with him or her regularly”.

Jeremy Moore challenges everyone to try this for a week. If it doesn't work for you, "just add it to your withdrawal list," he joked.

Author

Paula Martins is a fully qualified journalist, who finds writing a means of self-expression. She studied Journalism and Communication at University of Coimbra and recently Law in the Algarve. Press card: 8252

Paula Martins