TEA #02: Look After Yourself: Managing Your In-load

An athlete can’t compete at their best if they’ve got poor conditioning.

A piece of machinery can’t perform if it’s not in a well maintained condition.

You can’t manage, if you’re not in a good condition to.

Look, if your emotional tank (not to mention, physical and mental tanks too) are running on fumes, you’re not going to be making the best calls. You’re going to be less patient, less understanding, less empathetic, and just an overall poorer manager of people.

So, perhaps more important than any manager “skill”, learn to look after your energy levels.

Let’s get into it.

Generally, there are 3 components to managing your energy.

1. In-load: Stress that comes in and adds to your allostatic load. Direct workload, deadlines, interpersonal conflict, personal issues, bills, traffic. Anything that uses emotional and mental energy (which is everything)

2. Capacity: Your capacity to deal with your in-load. How resilient you are, but also how productive, or skillful you are. It takes an experienced brick layer a fraction of the time to lay 100 bricks than a rookie would - and so they’ll be able to handle more. Your capacity to handle loads is directly linked to your skill and productivity.

3. Out-load: How you rest and recuperate. Sleep, down-time, exercising, hobbies; anything you do to rewind, recharge, and re-energize.

Let’s start at the beginning. In-loads.

Prioritize

Imagine yourself at a buffet. Lot’s of stuff to devour, but you’re never going to be able to do it all at once. It’s the same thing with managing what tasks land on your plate at work.

Focus on the big tasks that move the needle. What are the tasks with the most consequence? The tasks that if done right, make the rest of the smaller tasks easier (or if done poorly, make everything harder). Make those big tasks your priority, delegate or delay the rest.

Focusing on the big wins, not only helps you focus on the task at hand, but also when you clear the big tasks, the little tasks associated with it get a significantly easier - reducing your in-loads.

Managing your stress-in isn’t about doing it all, but doing the right things right.

Set Boundaries

Saying “No” should be your best friend.

I know you want to appear capable, high-performing, responsive and all those good things, but if you can’t handle your loads you can’t handle them. You can only juggle so many things before you drop it all - and that’s not impressing anybody.

You know what is impressive? Being able to manage your energy well, so you’re performing at your best, and executing everything to the best of your ability.

If you can’t take something additional on? Say no.

If you can’t accept additional in-load at the moment, say so - then provide a time in the future when you will be in a better position where you can confidently accept.

You do not have to accept every in-load that comes knocking. Protect your energy, focus, and productivity.

Say “No”.

Scheduling

You can have a long list on in-loads, but you don’t have to do them all right now.

Spread them out.

This is also why prioritizing is so vital. Spread things out into the future, turn that big unmanageable load into a more manageable size spread out over a longer period of time.

Remember to also schedule time for yourself, to keep your energy and productivity levels topped up and effective. A well organized pipeline of work, with time scheduled in between for looking after yourself, reduces chaos - giving you the time and space to make better decisions, deal with others better, and to breathe.

In Conclusion

Look after your energy levels so you can look after your people well. It’s hard (impossible) to think about others when you are drowning.

So, prioritize, set boundaries, and own your schedule like a true leader. I won’t be surprised if you find management easier without having to learn any “management skills”.

Look after yourself, then go and kick-ass!

Whenever you’re ready, here’s how I can help you:

Explore My Relationship Accelerator program for leaders:

→ If you’re still struggling to unlock the potential of your people and would like to make some meaningful change - our relationship accelerator program helps your leaders learn all they need to know about building effective relationships to drive success - in one day. Check it out here.

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