Learning How Your Energy Flows

Invariably our readership is going to be compromised of a mixture of morning and non-morning people. I certainly and proudly fall into the category of the latter. This is a simple example of understanding how your energy flows. For us non-morning people, critical and complex thinking is something that should be avoided shortly after awakening. To expand upon this idea, I want you to consider your flow throughout the day. When are you most energetic? Are there factors that contribute to improved energy flow like a good’s night sleep or going to the gym that morning? Please take the next 5-10 minutes to consider your daily flow and when you notice your peaks and valleys. It is not reasonable to expect that you will be a rock star during every moment of the day but it is reasonable to assume that you can plan around it.

Now that you have a working understanding of your flow, I want you to consider your everyday tasks. We all have tasks that we do not enjoy and require more from our brain than others. As previously noted, our brains do not like expending high levels of energy and will fight to do so in the form of procrastination. If you guessed that I am going to suggest that you pair higher energy levels with undesirable tasks, you guessed correctly. Not only do I want you to pair these, but I want you to consider what you can do to increase your energy level and then make a ritual around this. For example, let’s say you have a monthly report that has to get done. You dread this report each month and feel an enormous relief when you hit send and have a month before needing to look at it again. In this example, the task is done on a predictable interval. There is no surprise as to when this undesirable report is due. In lieu of approaching it with drudgery, I want you to consider how you can create peak energy levels to tackle this task each month. Maybe you complete it every Monday afternoon so that you are enjoying the benefit of increased rest over the weekend, two meals in your stomach and a trip to the gym that morning. Boom! Now you have a report ritual.

Recap of Topic: Energy Flow

Claiming and working with your energy flow with allow for an easier progression throughout your day that does not result in you fighting with yourself. To get started with this technique,

• Reflect on your daily energy flow. When are you most energetic and what factors contribute to increased energy?

• Reflect on your daily, weekly, and monthly tasks and which tasks are the least desirable?

• Pair your peaks of energy with your least desirable tasks. Even consider creating rituals to ensure optimal energy levels.

Learning How Procrastination Can Be Used for Motivation

We all struggle with motivation somewhere in our lives. For some it may be getting to the gym and eating healthily and for others it may be cleaning the house or putting gas in the car. If you read last week’s newsletter, we discussed how to neurohack a habit to allow for neurochemical reinforcement. This is a way to sustain a habit but how do you actually get started? Believe it or not, procrastination can actually be your friend. Procrastination tends to get a bad reputation but is it always bad? In terms of motivation, the answer is NO! Procrastination is, in fact, a way to create lots of motivation. How many of us have driven faster than normal to get to work when we are running late or found ourselves staying up all night to complete a school paper? With structure, this technique can actually set you up to accomplish quiet a few tasks. One way to use procrastination to your advantage, is to set a timer to see how much you can get done an hour before you have to leave the house. You could also set deadlines on yourself knowing that you will likely wait until the deadline to get something done. This is fine so long as the deadline is respected. Challenge yourself to find ways to turn procrastination into a game so that you can see what and how much you can accomplish. The key to using procrastination to your advantage is to be in charge of the game.

Recap of Topic: Repetition

While procrastination often gets a bad reputation, it is invaluable in creating motivation. When we turn procrastination into a game of our own design, then we can harness when we create motivation. To get started with using procrastination to your advantage,

• Reflect on the areas of your life where you are lacking motivation. Be kind to yourself here. This is not a list of personal failures but a list of opportunity.

• Decide how you can use procrastination to your advantage around these areas. If you are wanting to lose weight, then schedule a weigh in or a trip to the beach or some other activity that would create a deadline.

• Communicate to your friends, family and co-workers your plans for using procrastination to your advantage to improve expectations and increase accountability.

Learn Ways in Which You Over-Function

We will start this topic by defining what it means to over-function. In a nutshell, we over-function any time we do something for someone that they are capable of doing for themselves. This behavior is not always bad and is one of the benefits of having a family or support system. Picking up dinner for your family when you partner agreed to do so but is staying late at work, is not necessarily a problem if it happens infrequently. Resentment is actually one of our best indicators of over-functioning. We tend to notice resentment when we experience being taken for granted. Can you identify a situation in your life where you frequently notice feeling resentful? Assuming the answer is yes, what are you doing in this situation? Are you always the one picking up the dirty towels or doing the dishes? If the answer is yes, you may have just identified a scenario where you are over-functioning. Next week’s newsletter will address boundary setting around over-functioning, but for this week I am going to ask that as you go throughout your day, you attend to moments of resentment and ask yourself, “what am I choosing to do in this situation that I do not want to do?” If the answer is that you are doing something for someone that he or she could or should be doing for themselves, then you are over-functioning.

Recap of Topic: Over-Functioning

Over-functioning is a difficult habit that results in us feeling over-worked, over-burdened and resentful. Addressing this behavior is multi-faceted but starts with awareness. This week’s newsletter asked you to use the feeling of resentment as an indicator that you may be over-functioning. You can begin to notice over-functioning in your life by doing the following:

• Notice when you feel resentful and ask yourself, “what am I choosing to do in this situation that I do not want to do?”

• Notice how you feel when interacting with others. Are there particular people that leave you feeling drained and tired? These may be relationships that are worthy of examining to see if you are over-functioning.

^{Recommended Product of the Week}

This week’s recommended product is the Hydrate Spark Pro Smart Water Bottle. While we don’t want other people to over-function for us, having a product hold us accountable is absolutely okay. If you require encouragement to hydrate you can consider water additives such as Mio Water Enhancers or Propel. My personal favorite is the Mio Lemonade.