Have you ever found yourself laying under the covers with plenty of time on your hands, your shiny to-do list mocking you and knowing you’re not going to get up?
Is your Netflix binge list looking more enticing than getting through your word count today?
Are you on your lunch hour, knowing you should be working on your creative endeavor or business only to find yourself watching one more TikTok video? “Oh no, my table it’s broken…” or maybe it’s just a “no bones day”?
If so, first off, you are like the vast majority of creative people everywhere. Congratulations on being perfectly normal.
Secondly, welcome to one of the major issues that keep creative types from getting stuff done.
When We Say I’m Out of Time, What We Mean Is I’m Out of Energy.
Creative people everywhere are in an energy crisis. The way creative brain’s work, they time and space to breathe. Some more than others, and in today’s world that moves at the speed of the internet, where we are expected to wear bunches of hats besides being creators, a lot of us have been set up to fail.
But before we can fix it, we have to understand the four facets that drive our energy consumption.
Type 1: Energy Absorption – Introvert vs Extrovert
I’m often mistaken for an extrovert. When I’m with a class or in front of a crowd, I’m very outgoing and, for the most part, keep my social awkward to a minimum. But that’s not what the introvert/extrovert scale measures.
Introverts are people who get their energy recharge from solitude, extroverts by socializing. There’s been tons written on these two facets of energy management.
Introverts will not have any energy left to create things following time spent in a social situation. Extroverts will not have the critical reserves they need following a period of isolation
Type 2: Energy Out Put – Time of Day
Do you feel best early in the morning? Do your best work when the sun goes down? Sign you up for a lunch and learn?
Everyone has a time of day that their body is in tune with for creating. Knowing yours in critical in structuring your time management life.
Are you an Early Bird, a Nooner or a Night Owl?
Type 3: Energy Pace – Sprinter vs Marathoner
Are you a person who does your best work in small, intense bursts? Or, does slow and steady win the race?
Everyone operates on a creative cycle, but some of us feel that more extremely than others. Sprinters are very cyclic in their energy. They can give fast, hard burst, but only for so long before they need to rest and rejuvenate. Their cycles can occur during a day, a week, a month or even a season. A daily word count for a sprinter in a rest cycle is brutal.
Marathoners are the opposite. They biologically bristle at going fast when completing tasks or projects. It’s not that they can’t, it just sucks away all the energy they have to get things done in with quality. They still like breaks, but they can go much longer (all be it much slower) before they need one.
Type 4: Energy Environment – Minimalist vs Nesters
Have you ever walked into an empty, white room and felt your brain go “ah,” in relief? Or are you a person who loves to be surrounded by your stuff?
This dimension deals with how your energy ebbs and flows in relation to the space you are occupying.
Nesters are very sensitive to color and texture and prefer to surrounded by things, often their things. They typically don’t mind working amongst clutter and they usually know where important things are in the midst of it.
This is not to be confused with ADHD people who can sometimes look like a cyclone hit their space. I have a daughter who has ADHD but is a minimalist. She has her most energy in a minimal space, but it’s an uphill battle to get there.
Minimalist find color and texture in their work space distracting. They often need a clutter free area to work or their energy is quickly depleted.
So, what’s your energy profile? I’m an Introvert, Early Bird, Sprinting, Nester. My youngest is a Extrovert, Nooner, Sprinting Minimalist. Everyone is different. Knowing what impacts you is key.
