
With remarkable consistency, these executives tell us they’re pushing themselves harder than ever to keep up and increasingly feel they are at a breaking point. We at the Energy Project have worked with thousands of leaders and managers in the course of doing consulting and coaching at large organizations during the past five years. That leads to declining levels of engagement, increasing levels of distraction, high turnover rates, and soaring medical costs among employees. Most of us respond to rising demands in the workplace by putting in longer hours, which inevitably take a toll on us physically, mentally, and emotionally. He slept poorly, made no time to exercise, and seldom ate healthy meals, instead grabbing a bite to eat on the run or while working at his desk. When we met him a year ago, he was working 12- to 14-hour days, felt perpetually exhausted, and found it difficult to fully engage with his family in the evenings, which left him feeling guilty and dissatisfied. Steve Wanner is a highly respected 37-year-old partner at Ernst & Young, married with four young children. When organizations invest in all dimensions of their employees’ lives, individuals respond by bringing all their energy wholeheartedly to work-and both companies and their people grow in value. These findings corroborated anecdotal evidence gathered about the effectiveness of this approach at other companies, including Ernst & Young, Sony, and Deutsche Bank. A group of Wachovia Bank employees who went through an energy management program outperformed a control group on important financial metrics like loans generated, and they reported substantially improved customer relationships, productivity, and personal satisfaction. The new workday rituals succeed only if leaders support their adoption, but when that happens, the results can be powerful.

And participating in activities that give you a sense of meaning and purpose boosts the energy of the spirit. Avoiding the constant distractions that technology has introduced increases mental energy. Rejecting the role of a victim and instead viewing events through three hopeful lenses defuses energy-draining negative emotions. For instance, harnessing the body’s ultradian rhythms by taking intermittent breaks restores physical energy.

#SPEND POINTS PROJECT HAVEN HOW TO#
In this article, Schwartz, founder of the Energy Project, describes how to establish rituals that will build energy in the four key dimensions. It has four wellsprings-the body, emotions, mind, and spirit-and in each, it can be systematically expanded and renewed. Time is a finite resource, but energy is different. Increasing that capacity is the best way to get more done faster and better. Meanwhile, people take for granted what fuels their capacity to work-their energy. As the demands of the workplace keep rising, many people respond by putting in ever longer hours, which inevitably leads to burnout that costs both the organization and the employee.
