I’m a big advocate of time management, and have well over 100 posts on here about productivity of various forms. When you get down to it, though, your time isn’t what you need to manage — it’s your energy.
In the his book “The Personal MBA“, author Josh Kaufman puts it this way:
Here’s the problem with “time management”: time is not what needs to be managed. No matter what you choose to do, time will inevitably pass. The implicit assumption of time management systems is that every hour is fungible—equivalent to any other. Nothing could be further from the truth: all people are created equal, but all hours are most definitely not.
I’m sure you’ve experienced it; you managed your time carefully so you’re able to set aside a few hours to work on that big project, but it’s at a time when you just don’t have much energy to put into it.
Dr. Andrew Huberman has a fantastic podcast that digs into topics like these, and actually published one last year that hits it precisely. In his “Optimize Your Learning & Creativity With Science-Based Tools“, Andrew walks through a typical day and explains how he gains more energy when needed, and how he plans his day around those peak energy times. It’s roughly a 90 minute show, but it’s fascinating and well worth your time.
Managing your time is an excellent thing to do, but you’ll gain even more if you can manage your energy as well.
You can subscribe to his podcast here, or watch that particular episode in the video below:
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