Episode 245: Energy Management
Introduction
Hello, welcome back to Live Free Creative Podcast. This is episode number 245, all about energy management. How are you doing? It’s the end of June. We’re like mid-summer. I guess technically summer solstice wise, the summer has just begun. I hope that it’s going great for you. It’s going well for me.
Happy Summer
My middle child’s birthday is on June 21st on summer solstice, which feels doubly special. It’s always been fun for us. He loves it. Elliot thinks it’s cool and talks about the real summer. All the time, like school ends, but that’s not the real summer. The real summer is when summer solstice happens. Plum also has been a little bit upset from time to time when she is reminded that her birthday in December means that she doesn’t get a whole lot of daylight. And Eliot’s birthday is the longest day of the year, the longest amount of daylight of the year up here in the northern atmosphere.
So, we’ve had to have conversations about celebrating Plum’s half birthday so she can have more hours of daylight. If you have kids, you know how this goes. It’s pretty, fun. I’m all up for celebrating sunny days. You all, if you’ve listened to the show for any length of time, you probably know that I’m solar powered. I love the sun; I love the summer. I’m a desert inspired soul. I think that I feel at home most when I’m in like a dry, hot, arid climate, which is not where I live.
And I love living in Richmond, Virginia. I love all the seasons here. And we get beautiful, like four distinct cool seasons. And there’s something just about the summer. About the sunshine, particularly the sunshine. I think part of why I had such a wonderful upbringing in Salt Lake City, Utah, despite not being a fan of the cold, is that the winters are sunny.
There. I don’t know why. I don’t know that it’s like that everywhere, but where I grew up, it would be freezing cold and snowing or snowy, and then it would be blue skies and sun the next day. And we would have weeks of sunshine even though it was cold. And I think it was not so much the temperature, but the sky, the sun, that helped me stay uplifted and energized.
And today we’re talking about energy management, so I just think it’s an interesting note.
How Does Weather Affect Your Energy?
To ask yourself, just think for yourself, what energizes me about the weather? What weather feels energizing to me? How am I affected physiologically and mentally, psychologically by what’s happening outside?
And how do I embrace that? How do I accept it and flow with it rather than fighting against it? One of the things that I’ve done to manage my wintertime slump. Is to try to take a sunny vacation sometime during the winter. Usually like February, March is ideal because at the beginning of winter it’s all sweet, you think it’s fun that it’s like sweater weather, and you get to wrap up and drink hot cocoa and have like early movie nights and then the charm wears off. And so, by, you get through the holidays because that’s always fun and exciting and enthusiastic and there’s things to think about.
But then we hit like mid-January. Early February and it just feels cold and dark. So, I try to go on vacation to help manage my wintertime energy. What do you do? How do you manage the sort of ups and downs that happen with the weather and with so many other things? That’s what’s so interesting and what we’ll get into later in this episode, that our energy is affected by so many different variables.
Throughout our day by what we eat, by our levels of fitness or exercise or movement. By our exposure to music and to the arts by our conversations, whether they’re responsive and uplifting conversations or whether we have critical or negative or argumentative conversations, our engagement in what we’re doing, whether we’re doing things mindlessly or whether we’re doing them mindfully.
Affects our energy levels. The weather affects our energy levels. So many things, some that are within our control and some that are not. And we’ll discuss more of that in a little bit. Energy management, as you’ll hear later in the episode, I’ll share kind of my introduction to the idea of energy management.
This episode, by the way, is an encore episode of episode number two, which aired in September 2018. O M G, first, wild that I’ve been doing this show for almost five complete years. Second, every single bit of it is just as relevant as it was even then, probably more so after going through the pandemic and emerging from that entirely transformed as society, as a people, as families, the way that we manage our energy is more important now than ever, probably, and.
Just having some awareness around what that looks like. And I, this episode also comes with a free download, a PDF worksheet that’s an energy management sort of profile to help you get to know yourself and understand a little bit more about your own personal energy profile. So that will be available in the show notes if you go to live free creative.co/podcast, find episode 245 and just click on the button, or I think you’ll just enter your name and email and I’ll email it right to you.
I do want to mention that I noticed as I was re-listening to this episode that I used to go to bed a lot later than I do now. So, I think I say something in the show like My brain turns off around 10:00 PM folks. Five years later, my brain turns off around 5:30-6. Especially I notice as I’ve been doing schoolwork and really having to have some dedicated creative output time, I must do that in the morning if I get into like even afternoon. My ability to focus on deep creative thinking has disappeared, especially production.
I can think like kind of mind wandering or go on a, an intentional creative walk to try to generate ideas and I might have some ideas that I can take notes on but sitting down and doing deep research or creating like producing words on paper is not easy for me these days.
After the early afternoon. So that has helped me plan my day and for this last year and a half, plan my day so that I’m able to generate production in the morning, my deeper research, deeper thinking, deeper focused. Energetic output must happen before noon or two. And then I, luckily, lots of things in our lives don’t take that amount of focused energy and effort and that amount of creativity and innovation and like real unitasking.
I ha I try to stack all those other things. The lower energy tasks, like doing laundry, helping kids with homework, picking up groceries, or running errands, or visiting with friends. All those other things can happen in the second half of the day. But knowing that sets me up for success because if I were trying to plan on doing a regular day and then really digging into my graduate work, like after the kids go to bed, for example, I wouldn’t have completed the program because after the kids go to bed, I go to bed and I even am not able to process nonfiction at night very easily.
So, I felt bad at the beginning of graduate school that I was still making time to read fiction novels at night. But I tried to read some of my non-fiction textbooks and I just, Didn’t, I just couldn’t, I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. I needed to just be able to have an easy-to-understand story and to not have to think deeply about anything.
So, in some ways it was nice because I really loved to read fiction and I loved having a place for that, even though my graduate school experience. And it still feels nice to know that I can do all my hard creative output in the morning. I can exercise, I can, try to. Manipulate the circumstances of my life for the greatest amount of energy and creative expenditure possible.
And I’m a human person. And so there comes a time where I must shut it all down and allow myself to do those lower energy things, to enjoy some passive entertainment to read, and a fun beach read. And when you start to understand the rhythms of that and your own personal rhythms, it makes life so much.
Easier and if not easier in terms of its diff difficult. Things are still going to happen, but you give yourself more compassion and grace when you understand what you’re going through and when you understand what other people are probably going through as well. This episode, more than anything, probably serves as a bit of awareness for you to dig into, create your own idea of how to make energy and time work for you.
Better and more easily and more enjoyably and to. Except that you probably need some more compassion and grace with yourself and with others. Because we are only human, and we have different seasons. We have different levels of energy and excitement and enthusiasm, and there are things we can do to generate it.
And there are also things that we have no control over that. Can deplete it. That awareness is key and helpful, and if you listened to this episode five years ago, when it came out, continue listening because I recorded it, and it was beneficial for me to go back and listen again too. Now.
This has been a long intro, but we’re going to do a quick peak of the week before we dive in.
Segment: Peaks of the Week
Creative Mornings
My first peak of the week is something that I’ve enjoyed for many years, and I don’t think I’ve mentioned here before. It is a free morning speaker series. That is international. So, wherever you are in the world, there’s probably one near you. It’s called Creative Mornings. The whole event started in 2008 when a graphic designer named Tina Eisenberg, or if you know her from online, from the OG days of blogging and Instagram.
Her handle is Swiss Miss. She started Creative Mornings because she wanted to just have an accessible creative event for New York City’s community and. The concept started with breakfast and a short speaker one Friday morning, a month. It’s always been free of charge, and now it is all over the world, including virtual field trips and all sorts of other things.
You can join online and then you can attend. One Friday a month in one of, hundreds of cities all over the world. I first found out about Creative Mornings when I lived in Austin, Texas, and started going regularly to the meetings there, and then I moved to Richmond in 2017 and immediately jumped back in, started going.
I was asked to be a speaker here in Richmond at the Creative Mornings in December, I think of 2018. And. Had such an amazing time, just embedding myself back into the Creative Mornings community, and then Covid, of course, put everything virtual for a while and now people are back to in-person events.
It’s amazing to go once a month. I don’t go every single month, but to have the option to go once a month, have coffee and donuts or bagels and breakfast, and meet people in your city doing interesting things. The Creative Mornings community is made up of all sorts of different people.
There’s entrepreneurs and freelancers, there’s graphic designers, and ad agency people. There’s also sculptors and ceramicists and moms. The manifesto of Creative Mornings is that everyone is creative. And that a creative life requires bravery, action, honesty, and hard work. And the community is just around to support you.
The entire thing is volunteer run. It’s free to attend, it’s F, everything is run by volunteers. It’s a nonprofit and they do a lot of good both in people’s individual lives and in the communities where, it exists. So, I want to invite you to find out where the nearest Creative Mornings live event is to you and make it a goal to attend.
I think it’s so funny, someone has called Creative Mornings Ted for the rest of us. So, if you love the idea of having a free breakfast and an inspiring speaker once a month or once a quarter, or even once a year, find a way to get involved in a Creative Mornings near you, and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have.
TrustedHousesitters.Com
My second peak of the week is Trusted House sitters. This is a website that someone mentioned to me when I told a friend that we were going away for a month and that we were looking for someone to come stay in our house and manage our animals while we are gone. Boarding the dogs for that long seemed like a big expense and not great for them.
I’d rather them be in their home environment. The cats love being home. I’ve never boarded them outside of the house before, and the chickens, of course, have their own coop in their own schedule happening in the backyard. So, the best fit for us was to really have someone come. Live in our house and take care of the animals while they also house it.
Trusted House Sitters is a website that facilitates this exact thing. It’s a no money exchanged option for people looking for houses to stay in for free in exchange for pet and plant care can be matched up with people like us who are leaving and need someone to come stay in our house. Ideally for free in exchange for pet and plant care.
Once you set up your profile, you can put the dates that you are looking for someone to come house and pet sit, and then people respond. You get different applications essentially. People from all over the world responded to mine and I was able to look through them. One person wanted to bring her own dog along, that wasn’t going to work for us.
And so, I, kindly declined that one. There were a couple that made more sense than others, and so I, I hopped on a couple FaceTime calls, essentially did some short interviews. And we have a wonderful woman who lives in England coming to stay in our house while we’re gone with her college-aged son who’s going to be starting at V C U in the fall.
The whole scenario worked out so perfectly. This woman and her son are excited to come stay in our house, to take care of the animals. They’re both animal lovers. They got to meet the pets virtually, and this way, this. First time university student gets to settle into the city for the month before he moves into student housing and begins his college career.
So, it really was a great win-win. No money exchanged, both parties benefit and the whole thing just reminds me of the power of community and the power of coming together and sharing things that we need. Not just finding a solution but finding a solution that builds some meaning and value in many people’s lives.
If you are looking to travel less extensively and would like to stay for free in exchange for pet and plant care, you can look on trusted house sitters to find locations to go. Sit all around the world, all around the country. You may choose something near you. You may, use it as an opportunity to go to Australia and stay there for a month.
I don’t know. Also, if you’re a pet parent like we are and you want to travel a little bit more easily without paying the cost of boarding or being able to keep your animals in their own homes, then you may want to create a profile and. Offer up your living space to people coming to take care of your own pets and plants while you’re out of town.
I know this isn’t for everyone. We have had several different times over the last few years where people have come and stayed in our home in exchange for pet and plant care. This is not the first time that we’ve done this as a family. There’ve been three others. Previous times that we have had people come stay in our house while we’re gone in exchange for pet and plant care, and it’s worked out well.
The nice thing about Trusted House sitters is that it’s already set up and organized to match people up. Previously, I just like. Sent a shout out on Instagram Hey, does anyone want to come stay in my house for a month? So, this feels even more official and easy, and I’m really excited to see how it goes.
So Creative Mornings and Trusted House sitters are my peaks of this week.
When I Discovered Energy Management
After the birth of my 3rd child, I had a lot of stress and burnout happening. I was getting to nap time and not able to do any of the things that I wanted to do because I was out of energy! I was doing so much to try to maintain my regular schedule, and I just couldn’t keep up.
Time Vs. Energy
We all have the same amount of time. In some ways, I do believe that time can be abundant and flexible depending on the way think about it and how we use it. However, in general we each have 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, and 52 weeks per year.
With time, you use it or you lose it. But with energy, you can do or even think about things that recharge you so that you then can accomplish more.
“The difference between time and energy is that energy is renewable.”
There are also things that can quickly diminish your energy level. A bad conversation, unexpected experience, or even a comment on social media can zap us of positive and productive energy for the whole day, if we let it!
Things to Recognize Regarding Energy Management
1. We come born with a certain level of energy.
Our natural energy profiles are super different and in this way we cannot compare ourselves to others! The things that build and drain our energy are all different.
2. The things that build your energy are the things you love.
What builds your energy are the things that light you up. It is so freeing that you get to do this work for yourself and not worry about what anyone else is doing! You have to turn inward and determine what matters the most to you.
WHAT ARE THE THINGS THAT BUILD YOUR ENERGY QUICKLY?
“The factors that build your energy are the things that bring you joy. The things that light you up.”
3. The things that drain your energy are the things that don’t matter to you.
The things that you spend time feeling in confusion about, or that you spend a lot of time making a decision and don’t ever feel very good about are the things that will drain your energy.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT BURN YOUR ENERGY QUICKLY?
“If I am pouring my energy into a problem that I can’t control, I am dumping it all into a bucket with the hole in the bottom.”
What Does Energy Management Look Like In My Life?
I work in the morning when my energy is naturally higher. Those morning hours are like gold!
I also try not to do anything worthwhile after 10pm. I turn into a pumpkin! For the most part, if something requires my attention or any type of creativity, I need to focus on them earlier in the day.
I like to save more mundane or mindless tasks with lower energy times of day.
I get into a flow before I work with some self-care habits. Some things I do regularly to maintain my happy energy are: getting a regular manicure, do a creative exercise before I begin working, I try to go for a walk or do a gratitude practice.
I ask myself “What else could I be doing?” That helps me go accomplish something more meaningful than scrolling though my phone or watching Netflix.
“What are the things that bring you joy? What builds your energy quickly? And are those things part of your regular schedule? If not, you need to do some shifting.”
Creating a Personal Energy Profile
Here is the PDF I shared on the podcast. Print it out and answer the questions in order to have some self-reflection and determine what times of day are the best for you, and what things build and drain your energy.
“Try to fill you life more with the things that you love, and try to eliminate more of the things that don’t matter to you. And realize that it is all so personal.”
Seasons of Life Change Energy Levels
Recognize that although we always have the same amount of time in each day, the circumstances of our lives can hugely impact the amount of energy we have.
Moving, having children, changing jobs, dealing with loss or health issues, and unexpected changes can all affect our ability to produce at our highest level. Recognizing and understanding this basic energy principle will allow us to have so much more patience with ourselves during low energy times of life.
“We haver to allow ourselves grace and patience through our lower energy times of life. As we do that, with gratitude, we will be a able to transition back into higher energy seasons with ease.”
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING! Catch you next week!