DO WE REALLY NEED MORE TIME?

“If only I have more time…” We heard that phrase often enough. Question is, will we produce more if we have more time?

Reality is, all of us only have 24 hours a day, no more, no less. Productivity is defined by output produced with respect to time. If productivity is the measure of performance, what we want is not more time, but to produce more in a given time.

Look at our tasks now. Were there a time (or day) when the report that you just took 1 hour to do, only took you half an hour to complete?  Were there a time when you were able to perform faster, better than others, both in quality and quantity?

We all have experienced that. On some days, it took me 2 hours to write a short article, whereas on other days, it may take me half an hour to do it. And still, on some days I could not even produce one article in four days.

So what differentiates those days…those times?

Research shows that optimum performance (in both quality and quantity) are achieved when we are fully engaged in what we are doing. That means being physically energized, emotionally, mentally and spiritually involved – in HR term this is called a state of full engagement.

So what differentiates the quality of each of our performance is the level of energy we have on specific time and day. By energy we mean not just PHYSICAL energy, but EMOTIONAL, MENTAL and SPIRITUAL energy. This is actually the key to our performance, and what differentiates high performing individuals and teams to mediocre.

ENERGY IS OUR BEST AND MOST IMPORTANT RESOURCE

Energy is our best and most important resource. What good is extra time if we are constantly feeling tired, lost, lethargic and unmotivated? 

So how do we protect our most important resource from slipping away? To do that, there are a few things we need to know about energy.

1. Energy is not limitless. It can be depleted and diminished through overuse and underuse. So it is important for us to have a way to replenish the energy, when we need to.

2. The 4 parts in us; physical, emotional, mental and spiritual are interconnected. While physical energy is measured by quantity (low and high), emotional energy is measured by quality (positive and negative emotion). It is almost impossible to be lethargic in one area and not be affected in another (not for long, anyway). So for sustainable performance, we need to keep all the 4 areas in our life balanced and well energized.

3. To build capacity, we need to push beyond our normal limit. We need to keep stretching our emotional, mental and spiritual endurance in the same way athletes train to increase capacity in physical endurance. Stress, disappointments, challenges and crisis are designed to build our capacity emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

4. Positive energy rituals that include intermittent rejuvenation activities are the key to sustainable high performance.

Proof?  Study the lifestyle of any high-performing team and individual; all of them have specific rituals that involve stretching beyond their normal capacity, balancing all the 4 aspects of their lives and regular rejuvenation session.

Questions for reflection:

• When is your most energetic time in the day?
• For the Bosses among us, what is our team’s physical, emotional, mental & spiritual level of energy? (Maybe it is time for us to take a peek…) What is the team’s positive rejuvenation ritual?
• What do we need to do to rejuvenate our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual energy? Do we know?

I invite all sharing you have here…maybe we all can learn from each other.

Till next post…  Be your BEST!

“Salam hangat”  from Puan Jay.