Did you know that you can budget your energy like budgeting your money? You can budget money, energy, and time. For this blog, I will talk about budgeting energy. On the next blog, I will write about budgeting your time! Why is this topic, budgeting energy important? It is important because we only have a certain amount of energy for mundane or difficult tasks in a given day. Once your energy is depleted on a given timeframe, it is quite difficult to do your best on difficult tasks. You will have to go to sleep and be re-energized until the next day. Of course, there are ways that you can re-energize yourself in a day, by doing activities that are fun and motivating to you. This topic is also important because most of us have to do things that do not motivate us, therefore the ability to budget your energy can help you succeed personally and professionally.
According to Marriam-Webster budget is defined as 1: to include in a plan for using money It's important to budget money for food. 2: to plan for efficient use Budget your time wisely. I would also add ‘to plan for efficient use of Budget your energy wisely.’ I bring this topic up often in my coaching conversations. I work for a financial company, and I have learned that budgeting can be applied to budgeting your energy, time, and money. Energy is like time and money. You only have so much in a day. There are activities that can increase your energy, but this is not about that.
Have you noticed when you are at your best during the day? Do you have more energy in the morning, midday, afternoon or in the evening? Which days are you most energized? When are you most creative, motivated, active, and awake? Why do you think this important to know? Here’s a few examples to reserving those times for important activities when you are most energized:
Making big or important decisions
Working out, especially if you just started
Doing projects that you’ve procrastinated
Creating new difficult habits
Starting on big projects that you are reluctant to
Doing mundane boring tasks
Keeping your commitments that is depleting
Exerting your willpower
Knowing when you are at your highest energy can be very helpful to spend them on what matters and important to you, especially if you must devote a lot of energy for it. This approach is similar to financial budgeting. You reserve a certain amount of money for the things that are important to you.
Here’s how this approach has helped me. I love to run, but I have been off and on the wagon. Once I am off, I find it difficult to re-establish my routine. I used to run in the evening, but I noticed that I would dread thinking about it all day because I knew that I was going to be too tired. It wasn’t motivating; it was draining me. I must force myself to run despite how it made me feel. It was a bit of a struggle. And of course, after running I would feel so great, but that wasn’t enough to maintain the routine once I was off it. I decided to try something new. I shifted my approach to waking up earlier and run first thing in the morning. Wow, what a difference that made! I didn’t have to feel the negative anticipation that I am going to have to run after working all day. This made it so easy for me to create my routine. I am most energized in the morning when I have enough sleep. I also needed to adjust my sleeping habits. The impact has been surprisingly great! It is now very easy for me to go running in the morning. Running starts my day feeling accomplished even before working! It makes me feel good to have a daily self-care routine. This routine has energized me!
What will change for you if you are aware when you are most energized? When are you most depleted? What would you spend your energy on? What will change for you if you know that you could budget your energy?
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