What Do You Do When You Get Tired?

00:00:00.000 | [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:00:03.400 | All right, so we got a question here from Tom.

00:00:09.960 | Tom says, what do you do when you get tired?

00:00:16.160 | He elaborates, he's extremely good at sticking

00:00:18.000 | to time blocking, not going on social media,

00:00:21.000 | doing Pomodoro at the beginning of the week,

00:00:22.400 | but as the week goes on, I get a bit tired and burnt out,

00:00:24.740 | and it's easier and easier to lose focus.

00:00:26.640 | I wonder if you can relate at all.

00:00:28.320 | Of course not, Tom.

00:00:30.200 | Tiredness is equivalent to cowardice.

00:00:32.320 | You should be ashamed.

00:00:34.960 | Don't do tiredness.

00:00:36.360 | No, Tom, of course people get tired.

00:00:38.160 | And there's two answers to this, right?

00:00:41.120 | I mean, one, if you're tired at a given day for whatever

00:00:44.120 | reason--

00:00:45.040 | sleep, sickness, et cetera--

00:00:47.840 | do less.

00:00:49.440 | Do less that day.

00:00:50.880 | I mean, what are you doing during the day?

00:00:52.600 | You're taking energy, and you're converting it

00:00:55.680 | into output of value.

00:00:58.040 | And you're doing that mainly by putting this energy

00:01:00.880 | through the circuits in your brain

00:01:02.520 | to add value to information if you're a knowledge worker.

00:01:04.440 | But you're converting energy to value.

00:01:06.020 | If you have less energy, there's less value you can produce.

00:01:09.840 | So I think that's fine.

00:01:11.680 | The key, however, is to remain intentional about it.

00:01:16.240 | So the thing that you don't want to do is, as you get tired--

00:01:19.640 | if you're tired in a given day, or you

00:01:21.220 | get tired as the week goes on--

00:01:22.840 | you don't want to just become ad hoc and lax.

00:01:26.960 | Like, eh, I'm sort of falling off my time block schedule

00:01:31.040 | and going down rabbit holes online.

00:01:33.040 | And I sort of limp in for a finish on that day

00:01:35.000 | or limp in for a finish that week.

00:01:36.040 | No, don't do that.

00:01:36.600 | If you see you're less energy, say,

00:01:37.600 | I'm going to work less today.

00:01:38.800 | But I'm going to make a plan for this less work day.

00:01:43.280 | I'm going to end it early.

00:01:44.480 | I'm going to put a two-hour break in the middle.

00:01:46.920 | I'm going to move things from this week to next week.

00:01:49.240 | But I'm still going to stick to the plan.

00:01:50.960 | I'm just going to make a plan that better fits my energy.

00:01:53.440 | That is the key.

00:01:54.720 | That is the key to energy and time management

00:01:56.680 | is intentionality, intentionality, intentionality.

00:01:59.840 | If you are giving your time a job that

00:02:02.680 | is based off a realistic assessment of what's

00:02:04.640 | going on in your current context, you're winning.

00:02:06.960 | If you are letting other factors in your mind and context

00:02:10.640 | just push you around like a leaf on a turbulent stream,

00:02:14.640 | you're in trouble.

00:02:17.080 | The exhaustion is going to amplify.

00:02:18.720 | You're going to feel bad.

00:02:19.840 | You're not going to end up in a place that's good.

00:02:22.800 | So it's always the best thing to do is to be intentional.

00:02:25.080 | And the main point I want to make here, Tom,

00:02:26.880 | and I think it's a good one, and I'm glad you asked it.

00:02:29.200 | I'm glad you asked it.

00:02:30.080 | The main point I want to make is that some days you

00:02:32.600 | have more energy than others.

00:02:33.800 | That means there's less work you can produce, and that's fine.

00:02:36.400 | But what I want to see again is a plan

00:02:38.480 | that reflects a lower energy day.

00:02:40.880 | Here is my lower energy day plan.

00:02:42.840 | I finish at 2.

00:02:44.920 | I take an hour lunch where I don't work.

00:02:47.400 | I replace this hard thing with an easier thing.

00:02:50.160 | Whatever you need to do.

00:02:51.160 | So be intentional about it, Tom.

00:02:52.680 | [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:02:55.840 | (upbeat music)

What Do You Do When You Get Tired?

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