The Newsletter dedicated to Managers and Business Owners

Get More Done, Have More Fun – Part 1

We’ve all heard the adage, “work hard, play hard”, but recent studies show that this is actually the best way to live a fulfilled life.

In his recent book The Power of Full Engagement, co-author Tony Schwartz says that our bodies have a natural rhythm called an ultradian rhythm.

Now that’s a fancy word that means nothing to me, but he’s saying that our body needs to have “ups and downs” just like we were breathing in and out.

We need to have equal times of using energy and renewing energy.

There are four sources of energy:

1. Physical energy
2. Mental energy
3. Emotional energy
4. Purpose energy

Tony advocates that we use and renew this energy in 1-1/2 hr blocks of time.

He studied professional athletes and found that 90 minutes of energy (work) should be rewarded with 30 minutes of renewal, or “down time”, for maximum performance.

Signs showing that you need to renew include: hunger, thirst, yawning, and fidgeting.

(I don’t know about you, but I’ve yawned three times since I started writing this…)

Far too often people are living their lives on zombie-like autopilot.

Since we often do the same things day-in and day-out, we often spend our days in the middle of rest and fully-engaged work.

We coast along in our luke-warmness, when we could be getting more out of life.

The key to accomplishing a new fully engaged life, according to Schwartz, is to start your day out right.

Eat a good breakfast and start getting up a little earlier so that you’re not rushed and so you can plan your day.

Always be asking yourself, “do I feel fully engaged right now? and if not, why not?”

So, start chunking your days into 1-1/2 hr blocks of time and next month I’ll give you tips on how to take this to the next level.