A few months ago I wrote a piece about riding the waves of life. It discussed how our energy levels (and our productivity, happiness and motivation levels) fluctuate on a regular basis. Whether it is monthly, weekly or even daily, these fluctuations can have a very considerable influence on the way we live our lives. At the end of that post I declared I was going to experiment with ways of trying to influence energy levels so that I would have less dips, more peaks and greater balance. It took several months but here, finally, are my suggestions:

* Don’t multi-task

Despite it being the done thing in business circles to focus on multi-tasking as a way of boosting productivity, humans aren’t actually very good at it. What’s more it takes the average person twenty minutes before the brain starts to focus in on a task. If you start juggling with other work at the same time, that figure will only increase. This is all before you even consider the amount of extra mental energy
required to multi-task.

* Get plenty of sleep

Some people are early birds, some are night owls and then there are others (like myself) who are somewhere in between. It’s just like some of us are tall, thin or blonde. One common productivity tip is to get up early, so you have more time to do stuff with less distractions. That’s great if you are comfortable getting up at 5AM, but for the rest of us it will cause an instant drain on our energy. If you are the sort of person who prefers to stay up late, use that time when everybody else is in bed to your advantage. Fit your lifestyle around your sleeping habits.

* Include leisure time

Having free time to relax and do your own thing without worrying about the time or feeling pressure to get things done is essential. However, it’s an often forgotten about part of productivity. People who swear by GTD and live it 24/7 may be very productive, but they are also the ones who constantly look drained and worn out. Be productive when you need to be and take it easy the rest of the time.

* Get regular exercise

What? Isn’t exercise a surefire way of draining your energy? In the short term maybe; after a hard workout you will definitely feel tired. However you will certainly feel a lot better for it. Now do it a few times a week and think of all the feel good vibes you will be getting. Healthy body, healthy mind after all. Compare it to maintaining a car; give it the attention it needs and it will run more smoothly and efficiently for longer.

* De-clutter and simplify

When your life is complex with many things going on, it can be an unnecessary drain physically (the amount of activity you do) and mentally (the amount of things you have to focus on). As a result you need to strip as much out of your life as possible, especially in three key areas

o Long term focus
Mission statements and long term planning is a mainstay of personal development teaching. However the same rule about multi tasking applies here. Keep it simple, focus on just the handful of long term goals that really matter to you.

o Lifestyle
Whether it be achieving a de-cluttered home, keeping track of your money or cutting out toxic relationships, streamline your lifestyle so you don’t have too many unnecessary things fighting for your time, attention and energy.

o Daily focus and to-do lists
Trim and simplify the work you have do on a daily basis. If you have to work through your inbox regularly, develop systems to streamline it. If your house is always a mess hire a cleaner. Trim your to-do lists and cut out irrelevant tasks and low priority work.

* Create balance
What underpins all of the above advice is the idea of creating balance in your life. For instance, if you are all about being productive and never give yourself a break or have leisure time you will burn out (essentially going to one extreme). Likewise if you focus on relaxation and fun you will become jaded and uninspired (going all the way to the other extreme). The trick is to find the balance between the two.

几个月前我写了一篇关于生活如潮涌的文章。主要讨论人体能量值（生产能力，幸福和情感）在通常情况下是如何定期波动的。不管是每月，每周甚至是每天，这些波动对我们的生活都会产生很大的影响。在每个极端即将到达的时候我宣布我将用影响能量水平的方式来做个实验，以使我的能量跌幅变小，有更多的高峰期以及获得更大的平衡。这个实验花去了我几个月的时间，但是现在我将给出我的一些建议，具体如下：

* 不要同时做多项任务

尽管在商业界用关注多个任务的方式是增长生产力的定论，但是人类并不擅长于此。进一步说，就是在大脑开始关注一个任务之前，平均每个人要花去20分钟来调整。若你将其他的工作与你原先的任务混合起来，那么这个数值将只会增加。这就是甚至在你考虑做多项任务所需要的额外精力前所需要的数值。

* 获得充足的睡眠

有些人是早起的“小鸟”，有些人是“夜猫子”，还有些就是像我一样徘徊在两者之间的。就像我们有些人高大，有些人瘦小或者单薄。一个通常的提高生产力的办法是早起，早起使你有更多的时间处理事情，不会分心。在凌晨5点起床感觉很舒适的人是非常伟大的，但是对我们来说，浙江导致能源的即时消耗。若你是喜欢熬夜的类型，那么利用你熬夜的优点使用别人在睡觉时的时间。养成适合你生活方式的睡眠习惯。

* 保证休息时间

保证充足的时间来放松或者做不需要担心时间或承担压力的私事是必需的。然而，这确实一部分常常被遗忘的生产力。那些被专题困扰的，一周之内每天干24小时的人可能很有精力，但是他们也是看起来憔悴没有精力的人。当需要的时候要充满精力，其他的时间要学会放松。

* 有规律地锻炼

* 什么？锻炼就一定能消耗你的能量吗? 也许短期内会，但经过一段艰苦的锻炼后，你绝对会感到很疲惫。然而由于锻炼，您一定会感觉好多了。 现在你一周内多做几次锻炼，想到你能得到的所有良好感觉。最终将得到健康的身体和思想。与汽车保养相比，给予它所需要的关注，汽车将会长期顺利并高效的运转。

* 整理并简化自己的生活

* 当你的生活被许多复杂的事情缠绕的时候，不必要消耗精神上（相当于你所做活动的数量）和身体上（你需要关注的事情的数量）的精力。 相反你需要尽可能从你的生活中脱离出来，特别是三个关键的区域。

* 关注长期的生活

任务描述和长期计划是个人发展教学中的中流砥柱。然而关于多项任务的同一个规则，应用在此：保持简单，仅关注那些对你很重要的长期目标。

* 生活方式

* 一个家庭要想保持整齐，就要记录你的消费过程，断掉一切不好的往来关系，简化你的生活方式，那样你就没有太多消耗你的时间、注意力和精力的多余事情。

* 关注每天要做的事并列出清单

* 整理并且简化您每天需要做的工作。 如果您必须经常通过收件箱工作，开发系统来简化它。 如果您的房子总是很杂乱那就雇用一个清洁工。 整理你需要做的名单并且删去不相关的任务和最不优先考虑的工作。

* 在以上建议的基础上再巩固一点，那就是：在你的生活中创造平衡。例如，如果你一直想要高效地工作并从不让自己停歇或休息下，那么你就会能量耗尽（在本质上走上一个极端）。同样，如果你一直集中于放松和娱乐，你将会变得厌倦并毫无灵感（走向另一个极端）。技巧就是在两者之间找到平衡。