I don’t know about you, but I continuously find that I don’t have enough time.
The thing is that we all have 24 hours in a day. How is that some people are able to do so much more?
There are the obvious reasons:
- Work smarter.
- Get organised!
- Delegate more.
- Keep a to-do list.
- Outsource the non-core stuff.
Or, just damn well work harder!
I think most people are neurotic about time – after all time is money, right?
The question that niggles me, though, is why some people are able to do so much more in the same allocated amount of time.
Some may suggest better organisation or possibly even an ability to multi-task.
But in my view there is an alternative theory (not entirely my own by the way*).
The reason people are able to do more is because they have more energy.
Simple?
I’m afraid so!
And it’s not only about energy – it’s about emotional energy.
So, pray tell, what is emotional energy?
Your thoughts create or deplete energy. Whatever you are feeling is the result of the thoughts you are thinking. Alive, vibrant thoughts create alive, vibrant feelings. It is there vibrant feelings that translate into action! The converse equally applies: thoughts that castigate and flog you translate into numbness and depression.
Hence, what happens, via emotional issues, we allow energy to leak out.
If the leak was plugged, the energy would be contained and the natural flow would allow it to replenish itself quite naturally and quickly.
And the greatest drainer of emotional energy is negative interpretive thinking.
What’s that?
When you have an experience that you interpret as negative, energy leaks from the body. This is palpable! It is a ‘whoosh-like’ experience which leaves you feeling drained and depleted.
Know the feeling?
So here is an example that you may be able to identify with:
- That difficult person at work, (you know the one that just always seems to be in your face!) comes to your desk and says you didn’t really come across well in the meeting yesterday. You experience this as obstreperous and intrusive and yet you smile sweetly and mumble that you weren’t having a great day.
And then your own mind talk starts up:
- “I should have told her to mind her own business. I always allow her to walk all over me! She enjoys seeing me squirm. I don’t stand up for myself enough. In fact I’m weak and ineffective – useless. She works for me! What kind of a manager allows a subordinate to speak to them this way? An idiot!’
This is an emotional energy drain.
Can’t you just feel it?
In addition, this negativity might be more ingrained than it first appears. This is especially true if a core belief about yourself that is already there, is evoked !
If it goes back to unpleasant childhood memories, the intensity is enhanced.
And here is where the energy thing gets really interesting.
Children tend to make things out to be much bigger than they are. Small things become a catastrophe. Take a sweet away from a two year old and it’ll scream the place down. It is as though their world has come to an end. To them, it certain;y appears that way.
And the enormous amount of energy that goes into that expression usually leaves them exhausted.
Same thing here. If a childhood memory is evoked and it is not verified for what it is, it could steal the similar amount of energy.
However, if there is some kind of a ‘reality check’ intervention, it is not difficult to see that there is no catastrophe at all. In fact, everything is just fine! This allows for a cognitive choice to be made that will override the negative mental activity and plug the energy leak.
Following from the example given above, this is how it might flow out:
- “This person is pushing their luck with me. My core belief is being evoked here which throws me back into my catastrophe drama and it dis-empowers me if I react to it. I need to do a reality check. I’m the boss! I’ll handle this when I am good and ready….. but I will handle it!”
So you walk off with your emotional energy intact and with more vigour to carry on doing what needs to be done. Accordingly a whole lot of time is “saved” – you have not allowed an energy leak to develop that could leave you emotionally exhausted and therefor unable to progress with your allotted tasks.
Is it that simple?
Maybe!