Managing your energy at work as an introvert
“Just because your time is free does not mean that you should be using it”
(Peter Hollins - The Science of Introverts)
When I was working in my corporate role, there were days that I would come home from work feeling all talked out and depleted of energy. My working days would be filled with meetings, and when I did have meeting-free time, there would be instant messages pinging, requests for ‘a quick chat’ and email notifications popping up, all made more intense post-Covid.
I recognised I was busy, wasn’t everyone? I just accepted this was the way it was without realising how much it impacted me. I would put my feelings of overwhelm down to being a busy working mum with a full and active life outside of work.
That was until I started understanding myself as an introvert and what I needed to recharge my energy, both at work and at home.
I’ve realised I need plenty of down time and solitude and that jumping from one thing to the next isn’t how I perform at my best and isn’t sustainable long term.
I want to share the 5 things I wish I’d known and implemented when in my corporate role (and I would argue these are general good practice, not just for introverts):
1.Understand your energy levels
Learn to recognise what gives you energy and what drains you, so you can plan your day or week accordingly. Think about the type of work, the structure of the day and the environments you operate in.
For example, if your day is meeting heavy, consider working from home or a quiet space to take a few minutes to yourself between meetings, rather than a high stimulus environment like an open-plan office.
2. Plan quiet time and breaks
Build gaps in between meetings - not just for comfort breaks and admin but also for time to think. As an introvert, we tend to do our best and most creative work when we allow ourselves this reflective space.
It has been suggested that introverts should make plans based on energy expenditure and not availability. (Peter Hollins - The Science of Introverts). So, where possible try to limit the number of meetings per day.
On those occasions when it can’t be avoided and you do have a meeting-heavy day, think about how you plan your days on either side of it, as well as your evenings.
3. Manage your meetings
Consider whether you need to be at every meeting you’re invited to. Request an agenda in advance and ask what your role is. Question whether you need to attend for just part of the meeting, or any of it?
Reduce meeting times from 60 to 45 minutes (or 30 minutes to 20) to create space between meetings or tasks. But you need to be disciplined and not use it as a buffer for meetings to over-run.
4. Make better use of technology
Control the pace of your interactions by making technology work for you.
Try colour coding your diary so you can see how you’re spending your time and aim for a healthy balance of meetings vs quiet time.
When you are in quiet or focused time, switch off notifications, customise ‘focus time’ tools on your devices and use the ‘do not disturb’ feature.
Manage people’s expectations by setting auto-replies for emails and messages that let people know you are unavailable and when to expect a reply or where to go if the query can’t wait.
5. Take ownership
I didn’t fully appreciate that I had the ability to take control of my day; I allowed my diary to dictate how I worked. Looking back I could have been more disciplined around how I spent my time and what I said yes or no to.
Remember, what works for one person, won’t necessarily work for another so try not to compare yourself to extroverted colleagues who thrive in busy, high stimulus environments.
How do you replenish your energy at work? What would you add to this list?