How Managing Your Energy Transforms Your Life

Hello there

It’s been a little while, I know. I tend to write when something really lands, when I feel that nudge like, this could really help someone. That does happen quite often (life has a way of throwing lessons at us), but I also have, well… my own energy to manage. Still, this one was too good not to share. It’s genuinely changed how I organise my time, what I prioritise, and most importantly, how I manage my energy.

Look at your last week (or a typical week for you) and answer this question;

Where did you spend your energy?
Not just your time. Your presence. Your focus.
This is where your values truly live.

Simple.

We often think the key to balance lies in perfectly managing our time. 

What if the real shift comes from how we manage our energy? Today we’ll look at how to reclaim and manage your energy. Don’t worry about remembering all of this…I have created a free step-by-step guide to help you! 😉 

We can spend hours on something and feel drained and as though we haven’t accomplished anything, while ten minutes of deep engagement can energise us and we feel we’ve made real progress. It’s a reminder: the quality of our energy shapes the quality of our life. 

Enter the dimmer switch metaphor; one I return to often in coaching and in my own life. Imagine each area of your life as a dimmer light; relationships, career, health, finances, creativity, learning, joy. You can’t have all of them burning at full brightness, all the time. You have a finite amount of energy to draw from, so you get to choose what to dial up, and what can gently glow in the background for now.

There was a time when I had travel, self-discovery and adventure turned all the way up to 10. During that season, everything else dimmed. Romantic relationships, finances, routines all softened into the background (apologies to all faithful friends and loved ones who bore with me through this time!). Later, after becoming aware that I was suffering from health issues and also struggling with anxiety and burnout, I dialled into a deep season of my own health; investing in therapy, nutrition and physical fitness. After that I dove into a period of creating an environment, a home and into study and drilling deep into my purpose through shaping my career. Right now? Connection is high. Family, community, friendships, love. The rest of the switches are lit up enough by these higher beacons to be happily ticking over in a sustainable way.

This is the art of energy balance; it’s supposed to be dynamic, shifting in line with your goals, circumstances and journey.
Not about doing everything. But doing the right things, right now.

Some clients come to me after spending years, sometimes decades, devoted to parenting or caregiving, a job or a relationship. Their energy has been focused so completely on that service or role that it’s as if the rest of the control panel has faded into the background. Not always by conscious choice, but by necessity. And now, life circumstances shift, (a child leaves home, the caregiving is over, a relationship ends, or a job is left) and they begin to notice a change: the constant demand in that area has eased and with it comes a complex mix of grief and possibility.

Suddenly, there is space.

And with that comes the question: What now? What could I allow in, now that this time and space has opened up?

Other times, reclaiming space requires intention. Life can feel chronically full, overflowing even. And it’s easy to tell ourselves we’ll tend to our own needs once things quieten down. When the project ends. When the kids are older. When the weight is lost. When the to-do list is finally done. But life rarely hands us that perfect window.

You have to create it.

Busyness will always be there. What matters is deciding what truly deserves your attention, and consciously shifting your energy in that direction.

We confuse busyness with progress and pour energy into tasks, habits, or relationships that drain us, without asking: Is this actually moving me toward the life I want?

Many clients, after tracking their time and energy, realise they’re investing a lot in things that keep them stuck. Often, we’re not truly stuck, we’re overwhelmed and often frightened of change, of uncertainty and even of the possibility of ‘what if it works out?’

Focusing on what you’re gaining, not what you’re ‘giving up’