Manage Your Energy, It’s More Important Than You Imagine

In 1995, while a freshman at Princeton University, Novelist Jonathan Safran Foer took an introductory writing course with author Joyce Carol Oates, who took an interest in his writing, telling him that he had “that most important of writerly qualities, energy.”

I’d say your energy is a quality one needs to do anything and everything well.

You need it for thinking, creating, and meeting people while staying present.

And in some scenarios, like in sports or physical work raw energy may be needed.

But if you are a professional who is paid for creative working and quality thinking, then you want calm and creative energy.

The opposite of calm and creative energy is nervous and anxious energy, where a person fidgets and huffs and puffs for no apparent reason.

This kind of energy does not help if you have to make a speech or presentation or sit down and focus on an important task.

That’s why learning to change state and convert your nervous energy into calm energy is important.

The easiest way to do this is to pay attention to your breath and observe it as you breathe in and out for 1-5 minutes. Just by doing this, you’ll experience a sense of calm.

Or go for a long walk, time permitting.

Also, pay attention to your physical state and sensation. If you are hungry it is tough to experience calmness, so feed yourself with fresh, nourishing food, and stop before you start feeling full.

For an ongoing sense of calm, meditate. If you are a regular meditator, the sense of calm that you experience after meditation stays with you for the day. Even if you feel ruffled after a busy, tiring day, you find your sense of calm, as soon as you get a chance to catch a breath and get to sip some water.  

Hope these ideas help you in managing your energy, and you use it to your advantage.

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