Energy Management – We all have the same 24 hours

Good morning!  It’s Monday and time for a great and productive week.  Let’s get energized today with some words of encouragement.  It’s all about energy management – We all have the same 24 hours. So let’s get started.

Yes, we are all familiar with the Energizer Bunny.  Great marketing concept.  It was/is so good that people use it to describe others, “Look at them go, just like a little energizer bunny!”

Energizers are people that can make things happen.  Ever been in a room when a person full of energy walks in?  They bring the energy level of the whole room up.  How can you have more energy you ask?

You may not be one to light up a room, but you can create energy that will make a difference.  Studies have shown that exercise increases energy.  It’s natural to think that if you exercise, that will wear you out and now you will just be tired and grouchy like me.  Not true. 

Turns out that exercising is like being on dope…. dopamine that is.  Exercising can lead to higher brain dopamine levels, which helps elevate mood. It gives your cells more energy to burn and circulates oxygen.  And it also allows you to get a deeper night of sleep.

There are several other factors we could cover that relates to having more energy, but here’s the deal.  Do you want to be more productive?  Well, why wouldn’t you?  Do you want to get more done?  Do you want to have a better and more clear focus?  Yes, yes and yes!  Then work harder, work faster and work longer, right?

Energy Management – We all have the same 24 hours

Apply this to your employees too – get more out of them, right?  What about your kids?  “They need to pull up ‘them there’ bootstraps and learn hard work ethic and be a workaholic like I done!”  Bad English on purpose. 😊 So just do this, right?

WRONG!!!  Remember…Energy Management – We all have the same 24 hours. Yes, I’ve said this before and you’ll hear it again, but it bears repeating.

When I write the Words of Encouragement, I ask God what He wants to teach me and for ideas the night before.  That gets me started.  But I don’t have the energy to write out the details then – I’ve already had a productive day.  So I sleep on it.  When I wake up (usually around 4:30 am) my mind is fresh and my energy level is high.  I have better clarity, a more productive conversation with Jesus, and this is what comes out…yikes!  😊

I am more productive now than I ever was all those years I worked 10, 12 or even 14+ hour days in the past.  I work much less now, but get so much more done.  Hint:  I work in short sprints – I take breaks throughout the day.  And with only a few exceptions, I never “work” through my lunch.

Work smarter, not harder

Whether it’s dealing with your business, a project you are tackling at work, or life issues from home that you need to work on… take some time to re-energize.  Clear your mind.  Work in segments and do re-sets throughout the day.  Don’t burn yourself out, nor your employees, or even your own family by doing everything non-stop until you drop.  Ever take a vacation that you needed a vacation to recover from? Yeah, like that.

And did you know that drinking more water gives you more energy.  Drinking both natural water and living water gives you the energy you need to accomplish the dreams and goals God has put in your heart to accomplish.

So give yourself a break (including your employees and your family) – take short breaks during your work day, exercise regularly, and drink water every day…at least 64 ounces.

For some people, high energy is a strength.  But even as a strength, when overused (going non-stop) it will take that strength straight to the basement and that energizer bunny will burn out and probably even take others with him.

Isaiah 40:28-31  AMP

Do you not know? Have you not heard?  The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become tired or grow weary; There is no searching of His understanding.  He gives strength to the weary, and to him who has no might He increases power.  Even youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, but those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] Will gain new strength and renew their power; They will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun]; They will run and not become weary, they will walk and not grow tired.

The oxymoron, “Hurry up and wait upon the Lord.”  It’s that waiting, and spending time with Him, that will renew your strength.”  You can be walking with Him all day long but if you don’t stop, Jesus can get pretty lonely hanging with you.  So hurry up and wait on Him.

And don’t forget to stop and get a drink of water.  😊

John 4:14  ESV

But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Doing so will allow you to energize not only yourself, but others:

John 7:38  ESV

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

Challenge of the day:  Pace yourself.  Stop in the middle of your every-day-walking-around-kind-of-life and go get a cup of coffee or some water, take a short walk, call a loved one and say hi – reset and re-energize a moment with Jesus throughout the day.  And so let the rivers flow!  So be it!