Imagine the powerful results you and your team could achieve if you could dial up your energy on a daily basis.

You could…

• accomplish more
• make better decisions
• serve your clients better
• motivate your teammates to achieve more
• find more creative solutions to challenges
• deal with stress more effectively

3 ways to ramp up your energy (3 ways to get more done)

Keep an energy log. For the next two weeks, keep a log of how you’re spending your time. List specific activities, like “quarter-end client update meetings,” “company research visits,” and “compliance review of marketing materials.” For each activity, decide whether it gives you energy (gainer) or decreases your energy (drainer). Then calculate how much time you spend in each type of activity. The gold standard is to spend at least 75% of your time in energy gainers, and no more than 25% in energy drainers.

Commit to energy gainers. Be intentional about how you spend your time, and make a commitment to yourself that you will maximize your energy gainers. Research shows that workers who enjoy 75% or more of their work are three times as likely to be successful. So gainers are good for the bottom line, as well as for your energy.

Deal with your energy drainers. A CFA attendee once commented to us that energy drainers are the greens fees you pay to play the game you love. That’s true, of course, but there’s also no reason to pay too much. Three reliable ways to deal with drainers are:

• Drop the activity (find out if it’s actually still needed. You might be surprised…)
• Delegate it
• Do it differently (different location, different time of day, different process)

Managers: Keep in mind that one person’s drainers might be another person’s gainers. Don’t assume that because you don’t like an activity, that no one else will, either. Trading responsibilities across teams is a no-cost, high payoff strategy to improve energy and performance.