Time Management’s Doom Loop is analogous to Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity: Doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results.
Time Management’s Doom Loop Day: Wake up. Jump out of bed. Get on the treadmill. Glimpse at your spou se as you pass each other in the hallway cause you are late for work. Shout at the kids to, “hurry up!” Drop the kids off. Go through the robotic motions of your job. Get off work. Grab a quick bite. Bicker with your spouse (a little or a lot). Sit in front of the television or the Internet until it is time for bed. When your head hits the pillow your mind races through the day, then moves on to tomorrow as you try to get to sleep. The next day?
Repeat
Time Management’s Doom Loop is what many Americans find themselves revolved in.
This seems grim and it is. Many American have been doom-looped! Some reasons? Money is tight. The economy is stuck. The wars America is currently engaged in. Fuel prices going north. Housing markets going south. Our children are at risk. We are at risk. Drug and alcohol abuse is on the rise. Domestic violence and crime stories have become an accepted part of the daily news stories. This is real stuff and it has nothing to do with managing our time better. Doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results? This is insanity.
Time Management’s Doom Loop is insanity! Time Management does not address how to change.
Time, by the way, cannot be managed. Managing time is like trying to manage a raging river. A person who jumps in (or falls in) a raging river has only one option – to survive its deadly current. Are you trying to keep from drowning?
Stop for a moment and ride the current. Let me throw you a life vest. This life vest is a new concept called, “Energy Management.”
Energy is something you can manage.
Time management has duped all of us. Do not feel bad. Life today is like a white-water rafting trip on the raging river. Many are just trying to survive its current. Without the right equipment, however, this rafting trip is simply too dangerous.
You are your equipment.
How are your energy levels? Low? High? Balanced?
Energy management provides a life worth living. When a person’s energy levels are balanced, a person becomes ready to fully engage in life’s process. When a person is out of balance he or she is back in the loop – the doom loop.
Too high of energy levels within a person creates madness. Life becomes chaotic. Busy, busy, busy doing what? Busy for what? More often than not, those who are overly busy use this as an excuse not to engage in the richness of life, which seems like a distant fantasy.
Too low of energy levels within a person creates apathy and lethargy. Life becomes robotic. Not much to care about. More often than not, those who are depressed use this as an excuse not to engage in the richness of life, which seems like a distant fantasy.
Energy levels, which are too high or too low, become the excuse escape.
If you do not want to change – don’t. At least now you can blame the doom loop.
If you do want to change, welcome to Energy Management.
Ask yourself the following two questions:
1. Why am I doing what I’m doing? Explain it to yourself and see if it makes sense.
2. Do I like what I’m doing? If yes, keep doing it. If no, do something about it.
Write five things in your current reality you would like to change. This is called you current reality because it represents, today.
Write five things in your ideal reality you would like to see change. This is called your ideal reality because it represents your possibilities and potential.
Bridge the two realities together with your “why” answer. Manage the energy you invest in your time and the time you invest in your energy – this will give you the highest returns.