You know the drill: You get into work bright and early, hoping to get a jump start on your day. But meetings and happenstance start to pile up, and before you know it, it’s 5:30 and you’ve barely gotten anything done. So you have to burn the midnight oil — and wake up early again the next day. It’s not just a brutal schedule to live on; it’s a recipe for disaster. Here’s one expert’s advice on how to manage your energy instead of your time.
A Reservoir With Four Wells
Writing for Harvard Business Review, Schwartz described going through that process with Wachovia Bank. In 2006, the Energy Project worked with 106 employees at 12 banks throughout southern New Jersey, ranging from senior leaders to lower-level managers. Together, they honed in on specific strategies to address each type of energy fatigue, using Wachovia’s own performance metrics to gauge their success. In the end, the bank employees who had participated in the program outperformed the control group by up to 20 percent.
Furthermore, a full 68 percent of the participants reported that the strategies improved their relationships with customers and clients, and 71 percent said their productivity and performance improved as well. Clearly, addressing energy needs is an effective way to boost productivity. But what, exactly, did The Energy Project do?