Not too long ago someone shared the idea of structuring one’s time using a focus on rest.

Thinking about some client work I’ve done, this idea resonated. Most of the people who’ve asked for support in managing their time were doing so to become able to do more work than before. If it wasn’t more work, it was to do the same work in less time.

While there are many possibilities to do so, it isn’t only time that is limited, but also energy. To put more work into the available time there is a need to attend to the energy enabling that work to be done.

As for available work, as Andy Grove once noted, “My day always ends when I’m tired and ready to go home. Not when I’m done… A manager’s work is never done. There is always more to be done, more that should be done, always more than can be done.”

Considering time and energy, it becomes clear that time never comes back and cannot be restored. That is where energy differs. It can be restored; it can be cared for.

Choosing to structure one’s time with a focus on how to restore energy or care for one’s energy creates awareness of our resources. It’s a focused attention that provides us with an interesting problem. It asks us to pay attention to how we find energy.

As we solve that riddle, it becomes clear that the options allowing us to find energy go way beyond good sleep and rarely involve passivity. Which in turn asks us to look at our activities and discover how they contribute to our energy.