Updated , Published at 2:28 PM PHT,
by
Dennis Cabrera
Success Made Easy through Smart Energy Management & AI Apps
How to Build Your Energy Levels
Unlock your peak performance and well-being through smart energy management. Inspired by "The Power of Full Engagement," this approach helps you optimize physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual energy. Discover how integrating AI tools, ergonomic setups, and organized workflows can help you thrive, adapting to your body's rhythm for sustained success in the AI era.
Smart Energy Management as Your New Essential Skill in Work
"The Power of Full Engagement" by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz presents a revolutionary approach to sustaining high performance, health, happiness, and life balance by managing energy rather than time. Their core insight is based not on the hours in a day, which are fixed, but on the quantity, quality, focus, and force of available human energy. This framework was drawn by the authors from 25 years of work with successful athletes. They suggest that when able to manage energy well, working professionals can do well to "perform in the storm" and build the human energy needed to sustain high performance amidst increasing demands.
Demands at work can increase during critical times. And since critical times are also a time of danger and opportunity (cf. crisis definition in Chinese), then the capacity to sustain high performance will help any professional worker avoid and rise above any danger to meet the opportunity with smart energy management. If we add to energy management the use of AI technology, which has doubled according to a Microsoft and LinkedIn report, high performance is indeed possible. And when high performance is sustainable, then all knowledge work automation driven by AI could generate an economic impact of $5.2 to $6.7 trillion by (OneForce ) [1][2][3].
Building up energy through fitness training
Discover how to optimize your physical energy through flexible fitness training methods like walk-run intervals and Swedish Fartlek running, adapting to your body's rhythm.
How can one build energy? This blog suggests two workouts that are more in line with Filipino culture. Like all Asian cultures, Filipino culture generally thrives in flexibility. Strictness with time is generally a Western professional work principle that Filipinos have learned from the demands of corporate work setups.
The two training methods: Walk-run and Fartlek
Walk-run intervals
With this training method, you have a goal-driven, but flexible discipline that makes you move forward. You listen to the body's energy level and adapt to it (not forcing output like a machine). You build energy and manage it according to your specific strength levels during the workout. You move with purpose, but not on a rigid, machine-like schedule, in running. You adjust your pace based on your current energy, the terrain's varied elevation, and your breathing [4].
Swedish Fartlek running
The flexible discipline of Swedish Fartlek training allows you to alternate between fast runs, recovery jogs, or walks. You listen to your strength level, adjust your pace based on your heart's rhythm, and understand what the body needs to handle the work of the day. You work out optimally by applying a targeted range of time where the needed level of energy is built. Listed below are what you need for the workout and its immediate results [5].
This training is known to have a very positive effect on health and the total energy capacity of humans (physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual).
Both workouts are based not strictly on time but on the energy levels of one's body. With these two training methods, you have a goal-driven, but flexible discipline that makes you move forward. You listen to the body's energy level and adapt to it (not forcing output like a machine). You build energy and manage it according to your specific strength levels during the workout. You move with purpose, but not on a rigid, machine-like schedule, in running. You adjust your pace based on your current energy, the terrain's varied elevation, and your breathing.
Man is not a machine. He is made to flex, recover, and surge at the right time; his body's energy rises. The flexible discipline of walk-run intervals and Swedish Fartlek training allows you to alternate between fast runs, recovery jogs, or walks. You listen to your strength level, adjust your pace based on your heart's rhythm, and understand what the body needs to handle the work of the day. You work out optimally by applying a targeted range of time where the needed level of energy is built. And since you walk and run outdoors, this is known to have a very positive effect on health and the total energy capacity of humans (physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual) [6].
Recharge: Cultivating Your Energy as an On-the-Go Polyworker
Managing your energy in professional work means respecting the natural rhythm of your energy levels, so you can stay healthy, productive, and financially stable over time. Think in terms of an analogy: your energy for work, or any polywork on the go, is like an athlete who is training for a sports event:
- you don't "sprint" at your work all the time,
- but rather alternate between intensive effort and recovery
- this is a concept formed by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz known as oscillation [7]
This flexible, goal-driven discipline allows you to push when you're high-energy and slow down to recover when tired, preserving your strength for the long run. To apply the concept of "oscillation" in your workspace.
- Implement ergonomic and dynamic workspaces that balance sitting and standing postures to prevent soreness and improve circulation.
- You can achieve this resourcefully, perhaps by using bookshelves or light, movable wood cabinets as standing desks to keep your laptop screen at eye-level height without buying new desks
- Incorporate strategic micro-breaks, such as short 5-15 minute "save-your-eyes" breaks from the screen, stretching arms/legs, gently rotating neck, or moving around a bit to release tension. A light snack if needed is a great energy-builder.
- Be aware of your resilient and goal-oriented mindset and view any distraction not as a threat, but as an opportunity for growth. This mindset is crucial for generating the necessary energy and strength to succeed at any project.
Integrate smart energy management into the 3 pillars of AI work
The concept of "Full Engagement," according to Loehr and Schwartz, does not only imply physical energy capacity. They actually delineate four separate but related sources of energy for every human body: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual.
- Physical capacity is defined by the quantity of energy
- Emotional capacity is defined by the quality of energy
- Mental capacity is defined by the focus of energy
- Spiritual capacity is defined by force of energy [8]
If these 4 related sources of energy are managed well, then they can be applied to three interconnected pillars of work in the AI and technology industry.
Pillar 1: Leveraging AI-Powered Tools [9]
- Mental Energy: AI tools, reported in by SEA Open Research as capable of automating 20-30% of repetitive cognitive tasks in 2024, can enhance one's focus of energy. They free up human cognitive resources, allowing individuals to direct their mental energy towards higher-level activities like strategic decision-making, creative problem-solving, and innovation. AI tools help workers avoid being "overtrained" so they can maintain their mental agility; they reduce cognitive overload.
- Emotional Energy: Without the burden of routine tasks, overall efficiency is improved and a more positive emotional state is attained.
- Spiritual Energy: As mundane tasks are automated, individuals can allocate more energy to work that aligns with their deeper purpose and values, contributing to a sense of fulfillment and meaning.
Pillar 2: Implementing Ergonomic Workspace Designs & Smart Gear Choices
- Physical Energy: Ergonomic workspace designs can balance sitting and standing postures to prevent physical strain and improve circulation, promoting comfort and reducing soreness. Choose smart, money-saving gear that is light-weight.
- Mental Energy: A comfortable and organized physical workspace, achieved through ergonomic choices, minimizes physical distractions and discomfort, allowing for better mental focus.
- Emotional Energy: Reduced physical discomfort and stress from an optimized work environment contributes to a more positive mood and overall emotional well-being, enabling greater resilience.
Pillar 3: Organized Workflows (Ivy Lee Time Mgt Technique & 5-S Method)
- Mental Energy: The Ivy Lee Time Management Technique directs the focus of energy by requiring prioritization of a limited number of critical tasks and adherence to completing one task before moving to the next. This method avoids "split attention" that can lead to reduced quality of work. Also, the 5-S Method for systematic organization of both physical (e.g., on-the-go backpack) and digital work environments aims to reduce clutter that contributes to mental clarity and efficiency.
- Emotional Energy: By providing clear structure and prioritization, these methods reduce feelings of being overwhelmed and stressed, leading to a greater sense of control and accomplishment, boosting emotional well-being, and making achieving goals easier.
- Spiritual Energy: By maximizing productivity and minimizing wasted effort on less important tasks, individuals can direct their conserved energy towards activities that truly matter and align with their overall goals and values.
GEN AI image of #4 professionals incorporating strategic micro-breaks with stretching exercise
How to apply smart energy management in polywork?
Polyworking is important in navigating the AI era. To succeed in polyworking, integrate disciplined AI productivity and smart energy management. This involves mastering the oscillation principle in your tasks — alternating intensive effort with energy recovery in breaks, leveraging AI & digital tools in ergonomic workspaces, and upholding the self-discipline and determination vital for sustaining your dream AI job well in the rise of AI.
