Last week, I, Shelley, realized that something needed to change in my schedule.
On Wednesday I had an interview that lasted for 1 hour 15 minutes, a group coaching Zoom call for my Book Marketing Momentum group for 1 hour 30 minutes, and a live Zoom call with Christian Book Academy for an hour.
I love the interviews and live calls, but they also drain me of energy.
And Thursday I was so exhausted I could hardly get anything done.
So I began to talk to my friend about energy management and realized my schedule needed to change.
I think about 2 ½ hours is my limit for live calls and interviews. Maybe 3 hours max.
But, I was trying to do what all the productivity experts say to do and batch all my live videos/interviews in one day.
This backfired on me and actually made me less productive the next day.
Your ideal schedule
It is important to know YOUR personality and what works for YOU.
The experts may recommend something, but then we need to ask God for wisdom on how to implement it for our lives.
A few questions for you:
- Have you ever considered energy management in your schedule?
- Are there certain days or certain tasks that drain you more than others?
- Is there a way you can change your schedule to adapt even better to YOU?
I made some changes to my calendar last week and moved all my personal appointments to Friday to free up Tuesdays for interviews and live videos if needed. This way I have 2.5 to 3 hours available on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday depending on what I need to get done each week.
Typically I leave Thursdays to be my “brain day” where I get a lot of work done on my biggest projects, but my schedule is adaptable.
And I feel like a weight was lifted off me.
I can still do what I need to do in a way that won’t exhaust and drain me.
Even though I was managing my time in an excellent way, I needed to make some shifts to better manage my energy.
Time and energy are two very different things! Amen?
Action Steps
I encourage you to take 15 minutes and implement these few short action steps today.
Action Steps (15 minutes total):
- Write out the days of the week across the top of the page. Write out your current schedule. (2 minutes)
- How are you managing your TIME? Pray and then journal about this (2 minutes)
- How are you managing your ENERGY? Pray and then journal about this (2 minutes)
- Taking into account how you are managing your time and energy, write out a new weekly schedule that would be an ideal schedule. (5 minutes)
- Pray and commit your time and your work to the Lord. (1 minute)
If this mentoring moment blessed you, let me know as I’m considering doing more of them in the future and want to know what best serves you.
And if you implement the action steps, share your results with me and any questions you have in the comments below.
Cheering you on today friend!
Other Strategies to Manage Your Schedule and Energy
Looking for other ways to manage your schedule and energy? Check out “Book Marketing Strategies for Introverted Authors“.
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