How to be energy-smart? Part 2: Practical tips and a template for tracking your energy cycles

Track your energy cycles, gain insights, and optimize your life and work using a customizable template created by Katya

Welcome back to Katya Cares, a fresh Substack space where we discuss new technologies, remote work culture, art, psychology, and joy. Katya shares what she is learning about because sharing is caring. This week, Katya is learning about energy optimization.

In part 1, I explored how optimizing personal energy is a crucial skill for life and work.

In part 2 of this blog post, I will offer practical advice on how to track your energy levels, gain insights from the data, and make the necessary changes. Additionally, I will provide a template I created to help you get started easily.

Together, we will learn how to be energy-smarter.

What does it mean to be energy-smart?

A common self-help advice is to work smarter, not harder. But what does that mean exactly?

There are many ways to work smart. People often discuss how to work smart to increase productivity, which is crucial. However, to have good results in both work and life, you need more than that. You need to be energy-smart.

Being energy-smart means knowing how to ride the waves of your personal energy levels to get more done and feel great while doing it! By matching your tasks with your energy highs and lows, you can tackle your day with gusto, making the most of your creativity and focus while avoiding burnout.

Energy-smart people:

• Recognize their energy cycles.

• Gain insights from their energy cycles.

• Talk about their energy cycles.

• Make better choices and more effectively explain those choices.

How to be energy-smart in life?

According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, you must first fulfill your basic physiological and safety needs before you can develop a sense of high self-esteem and achieve your full potential. Therefore, prioritizing energy efficiency in your life should be a priority, even if your goal is to work smarter or lead a team that works smarter.

#1 Keep track of your energy levels, as is

Just like learning anything new, before diving into gaining insights and making progress, you need to first conduct research and explore.

How do you research and monitor your energy levels? Track your energy!

Every few hours, record the activity you are doing and how you are feeling at the moment. You can use a journal, use a Notes app on your phone, or you can use my free template.

To make tracking easier for you, I created a free Notion template for tracking your energy levels: https://katyacares.notion.site/ff20432a8f7547cfa546de17a89f2190?v=b7a8eb6901ae42f485ddb022d3667c4f

This template has 2 parts

1. Daily Energy Health Check:

   1. A daily tracker that includes an energy meter based broken down by Morning, Afternoon, Evening activities

   2. Reflections for the day

2. Energy Weekly Summary

   1. Weekly summary of what you learned
      

To get started, simply duplicate the template, change the date, and fill it out!

Here is a sneak peak:

Emojis! So much fun!

#2 Write down what do you learn

Writing down what you learn every day and then week, can help you gain insights about your energy cycles.

Using my template, or whatever tool you’d like, write down a reflection for each day and week. How would you rate your overall energy level? Did you overall feel high energy or low energy? What worked? What did not work?

Note the setting. What is it like? How does it make you feel? Note the people surrounding you. What kind of people? How do they make you feel?

Note which moments stood out to you as they were shifts in energy. What were you doing before/during the energy shift? What should you do more of?

Try not to judge yourself negatively. Pretend to be a scientist merely observing an experiment and meticulously writing down notes.

#3 Keep track of your energy levels , while experimenting

After keeping track of your days exactly as they happen, it is time to experiment with them. Make small updates to your daily routine and note how they impact your energy levels.

Here are some ideas for small changes you can make:

• Wake up earlier or later

• Sleep more or less

• Eat at different times than usual

• Drink more or less coffee

• Walk or exercise more or less

• Schedule movement breaks at different times

• Listen to different music

• Hang out with different people

#4 Using new insights, adjust accordingly

The longer you track your energy, the more likely you are to account for many external factors and identify patterns that consistently work for you.

Make a change!

Do not be afraid to make adjustments, whether big or small.

If you are afraid of change, remind yourself that you do not need to be the same person you were before. Every day you make micro-decisions about who you are.

It is human and beautiful to learn and experiment, and more often than not, you will need to make small and big adjustments to see positive results.

#5 Feel gratitude for the good stuff, especially if they surprise you

Take a moment to celebrate and feel grateful for anything that boosted your energy or any positive experience that you've had. These energy-producing moments probably brought you joy. Writing them down and reflecting on them will help you remember that good feeling for longer, and it will help you create more of those types of moments in the future.

Pro tip - Become an expert in "you-museum"

By meticulously tracking and exploring with curiosity, I became an expert on myself. Now, I can answer questions like “What does a perfect day look like?” “What brings me energy?” “What can I do when I need energy?” “What kind of work should I do when?”

I can take you on a tour of my mind. I can curate a Katya museum. Can you curate a you-museum?

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Oversharing my own experience:

In 2015, I found myself in a bit of a rut. I was doing all the right things at the right time, but I felt like a zombie. I had graduated college early, landed a great job, and was living with a good boyfriend in a cool location. On paper, everything was perfect. However, I felt "slumpy" and lacked energy to give to anything. Despite making all the right decisions to push my life forward, I felt lost and unsure of how to make my life better.

Realizing my mental state, I began tracking my mood and energy daily, inspired by psychology research. During this time, I learned a lot about myself and made both big and small changes to improve my mood and energy.

Example of my daily tracking insights:

I typically experience low energy in the mornings, but I feel more energized after having coffee and a snack between 10am-12pm. However, I usually experience a crash around 3pm, or 4pm if I eat around noon. To combat this, I find it helpful to take a walk or do some other form of exercise around 4pm. This helps me feel more alert. Additionally, I find that 25-minute naps can be reenergizing.

I typically get a burst of energy after dinner and at night. However, since it's not always conducive to my schedule to be high-energy, especially before bedtime, I make sure to wind down early.

I schedule my work days around these insights. I am currently writing this Substack at 10pm when I have tons of energy. After, I’ll go watercolor and read a book to wind down.

Example of monthly tracking insights:

I experience low energy levels before my period, which makes it more difficult for me to lead meetings, attend conferences, and brainstorm new ideas. However, I find that I am able to think and write effectively during this time. After my period, I experience a surge in energy, which allows me to be more social and effortlessly brainstorm new ideas. I try to use these insights

Other big insights:

Being in an office all month, surrounded by people every day, drains my energy and leaves me with little left to give to the important people in my life, such as my loved ones.

In addition, my ex-partner drained my energy. I learned I needed to be surrounded by high-energy individuals to maintain my overall energy levels throughout the month.

What changes did I make with all these insights?

I wrote down what my ideal but realistic weekday might look like. Through this exercise, I realized that I needed a remote job, a different type of home, and a different type of partner. Within a few years, I changed careers, moved apartments, and ended that relationship. Nowadays, I feel more energetic, productive, and fulfilled in life, and I am happier as a result.

They don’t teach this stuff at school! You are never too old to learn how to be energy-smarter and make a change!

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How to be energy-smart at work?

Once you become energy-smart about yourself, you can apply this skill to become more productive and make better decisions.

Tips for being energy-smart at work:

• Try to have as much control over your schedule as possible. This means planning ahead as much as you can. People often have more control and flexibility at work than they realize! If you don’t try, how will you know?

• Schedule meetings you need to lead or block off time for productive, quiet work during times when you feel most energetic.

• Block off rest breaks during times when you feel less energetic, and use that time to move, snack, nap or do whatever gives you an energy boost. Planning these breaks ahead of time can help you feel less guilty.

• Accept that not every day and week will be the same, because your energy levels cycle up and down. Beating yourself up because you're feeling "low energy" or "can't get anything done today" won't help. Being prepared for the ebbs and flows will.

Side rant - Everyone needs rest and moments of joy, which is why we have holidays. Personally, holidays never seem to come at the right time for me. However, I make time for them because they’re on the calendar and everyone else is celebrating too. We feel less guilty about resting or celebrating when it’s predetermined on a calendar. So, even during work days, schedule little breaks and energy-boosting moments to get some rest and joy!

If you have tried all of the above and your work still drains your energy and leaves you feeling low, affecting your energy levels in other areas of your life, it may be time for a bigger change. Remember, your mental health should always come first, as taking care of it is your most important job.

Be a part of an energy-smart team :

If you are thinking, "This all sounds nice, but it's not realistic for my job and I need this job," I encourage you to work towards creating this type of work culture for others in the long term. If something in society does not please you, you can effect change in society.

If you already have the opportunity to manage people or even just help other people unofficially, I recommend you:

• Encourage self-awareness: Promote open communication and self-reflection among your team members, allowing them to identify their energy peaks and troughs.

• Schedule tasks accordingly: Allocate high-priority or complex tasks during peak energy periods, and reserve low-energy times for less demanding tasks or breaks.

• Foster a flexible work environment: Provide your team with the autonomy to adjust their schedules and tasks based on their energy cycles, promoting greater work satisfaction and productivity.

• Encourage healthy habits: Support your team in maintaining a balanced lifestyle through exercise, nutrition, and stress management, which can contribute to more consistent energy levels.

We all win if we improve the work cultures in our industries! Think about GenZ! We can’t leave all the hard work to them…

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Let us know!

I have some questions for you:

• Have you ever tried tracking your energy levels?

• If so, did it help you?

• If not, do you think it could help you?

• What do you think of my template?

• Would you like to see more templates in the future?

Comment or email me!

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Joyful moment of the week!

My friend Helen surprised me by joining me at yoga. As we walked together, she mentioned that she loves reading my Substack posts on Thursday mornings while eating her lunch. Knowing that someone out there enjoys my writing during their lunch break brings me so much gratitude and joy.

Here's a new rule: when we write creatively, we should imagine a Helen reading our writing during her lunch break. We shouldn't write for the masses; that's not motivating. Instead, we should write for a Helen!

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Part 3

This was meant to be a longer post, but then I realized I had too much to say. Oops! Therefore, we have a Part 3.

In Part 3, I will focus more on product and task management. I will discuss how to prioritize product tasks effectively while being energy-smart, using Reframe bot as an example. Additionally, I will share a framework I developed called RITESE, which helps me prioritize product features.

Thanks for reading! Eager for all your responses.