'Understand your energy rhythms': How to manage your energy, not your time

In 2022, research by this magazine found that engineers were struggling – more than three-quarters said their work was stressful, and many reported feeling exhausted and burnt out.

That’s a feeling shared by many across the workforce, and it’s something an IMechE training course running later this year seeks to help with. Here, course trainer Mary Guerdoux-Harries – an IMechE chartered engineer who has more than 20 years of experience with the likes of Jaguar Land Rover, Alstom and Thales – shares some useful advice from the course which focuses on the different types of energy and how to manage them. 

Understand your energy rhythms

There are three natural cycles that govern your energy levels. Ultradian rhythms oscillate through the day depending on the effort you’re expending. After 90-120 minutes of work, you need 20 minutes to recover. Circadian rhythms are governed by the time of day and affect hormone secretion, body temperature and blood pressure. As a result, we’re better at doing certain tasks at certain times of day: more alert and coordinated around midday, and more error-prone later at night. Infradian rhythms work over longer periods and include things such as the menstrual cycle, which can affect a woman’s concentration and stress tolerance. 

Learn to sleep better

Sleep is our most fundamental energy renewal process – it allows our brains to store information and remove toxins, and our bodies to focus on hormone and protein production. A lack of sleep can lead to increased stress, a lack of energy and motivation, and emotional deregulation. To improve your sleep, Guerdoux-Harries recommends the 10-3-2-1-0 sleep rule. Ten hours before bed: no more caffeine. Three hours before bed: no more food or alcohol. Two hours before bed: stop working. One hour: no more screen time. And zero: the number of times you hit snooze in the morning.

Manage your mental energy

Mental energy means our capacity to be alert, present and focused, and to concentrate and move between tasks. Without it, we make judgement errors, get distracted or forgetful and struggle to come up with ideas. But there are some easy ways to fix it. Change your environment – getting outside or listening to music can help. Good physical and emotional health is important – sleep and exercise. You could also try the Pomodoro technique, which involves breaking up your work into 25-minute bursts of concentration (no phone, no email, no messages) – with a five-minute break in between, and a 30-minute break every two hours. 

Regulate your emotions

Emotional energy determines the quality of the energy we have. There are two emotional categories. Catabolic emotions are things such as fear, grief, sadness and anger – they deplete your energy and are associated with spikes in stress hormones. Anabolic emotions such as joy, calm and love are energy renewing – they’re associated with hormones like dopamine and oxytocin, and help to renew your energy. Some ways to boost emotional energy include exercise, meditation and yoga.

IMechE’s Manage Your Energy Not Your Time training course is running in London on 22 November. Find out more on the IMechE training page.