Mental Energy Management Techniques

[StetsTerhune]

There's a whole industry of self-help/business books devoted to "Time Management" advice. Maybe there are people for whom that's a problem, but I've never found time to be the constraining factor in anything I do. I simply run out of mental energy to keep pushing forward. Has anyone found any good books or just good advice to either (A) increase the mental energy, or (B) conserve mental energy?

For A, I get a huge amount of sleep, and have tried meditation and exercise, but neither has ever really taken long-term. Alcohol (etc.) does seem to decrease recovery time needed after mental strain, but only works if used sparingly.

For B, I pare down extraneous decisions when I have something difficult to do for a period of time (e.g eat the same thing for lunch every day), but this isn't really how I want to live my life.

[DreamFIRE]

Too much exercise can actually cause the opposite effect.  I used to frequently take 3 hour bike rides, and I didn't feel the mental energy to get much done after that.  And of course, that cuts into the time aspect also.

One trick I've always heard of has to do with inertia.  You just need to get yourself moving or working on something for a short time, and inertia takes over and keeps you going.   So you only have to tell yourself to spend a few minutes, which is easier than an hour or whatever.  Then once you're moving, you might actually spend a lot more time being productive.

Having someone else around working with me on some things seems to help my mental energy.

Playing some music can help - depends on the situation whether that's practical.

On on occasion, I have a cup of regular coffee for an extra boost.  Just don't make a habit of it.

[SAR]

I'm guessing that the point of mental energy being discussed involves tasks that involve sustained attention and high difficulty.

This is something I have struggled with over time when it comes to writing academic papers. My goal has always been to push the bounds of my capabilities on projects. Partly this is because I think of mental tasks in the same way as physical tasks--pushing hard increases strength. But I'm also interested in seeing what I can accomplish, because I find it satisfying when I finally knock something over.

I think the key is finding tasks that are an optimal challenge--they push your bounds, but they are still able to be completed. Things become sub-optimal when there are too many distractions.

The difficulty for me has always been figuring out where to back off, and I have discovered things that ultimately work against my ability to maintain focus.

My main problem has been the paradox that I think most clearly and creatively the later I work. But if I do that, I'm unlikely to sleep well because my mind will be racing. I have yet to discover a solution to this.

Another area that I have played with is in breaking difficult tasks into small portions. So long as you can see the end to something difficult in the near future, it is relatively easy to say "ok, I'll push through and get this done". If you keep doing a lot of that, over time you will accomplish a lot. The key here is discipline and goal focus. You can make that real for yourself by writing down your goal and steps someplace where you can look at it while you work.

Other tricks will be to eat very healthy food, and be sure to get plenty of exercise. Also choosing to avoid situations and people that are a source of stress and distraction without benefit. I've had a long habit of being argumentative, but in the long-run this has hurt me.

[o2bfree]

Avoid unnecessary thinking. Monitor your thoughts for a week or so to see how many are unnecessary. For example, all those mental conversations, ruminations, and evaluations that you make without ever knowing or really caring if they're true or not; replays of emotionally-charged situations, desires entertained because the present situation is boring or unpleasant, fanciful plans made that won't be carried out, cycles of obsessive thoughts. Why waste energy on these thought patterns? Try dropping them whenever they arise.

[Laura33]

I think this is all very personal, so you need to try a number of things and see what works for you.  I have ADD, which comes with hyperfocus; I find it very hard to get focused on something, but when I do get there, I am totally in the zone, work just flows out of me, and I lose all track of time. But when it goes away, I am exhausted, spent, as if I'd just run a marathon.

So I have always had to manage my energy; I learned from very young that I just need to plan downtime into my day.  It is hard; society says we need to go-go-go, and my own up-close-and-personal role model (mom) takes that to the extreme.  But at some point I was just forced to realize that that is not me; that I need to come home and flop on the couch and watch TV or read a book or spend an afternoon cooking -- basically, anything that can turn off that part of the brain and activate a completely different one. 

And btw, it's the "activate another one" that really matters.  I find that my mind continues to race and fret and circle around whatever my current problem is, unless I give it something else to focus on.  So even if I feel completely wiped, taking a nap doesn't help, because I don't get a break from that brain work.  Cooking is perfect:  I have to pay close enough attention to what I am doing so I don't forget ingredients or burn the food, but it requires zero higher-level thought and seems to use a different part of my brain.  It's almost like a walking meditation. 

So the main takeaway is really, IMO, know your limitations.  If you are having trouble maintaining energy, do less of what requires that energy.  And then find something else to do that you find mindless and refreshing -- a walk with your favorite music on, puttering in the garden, an hour or two with your favorite show on Netflix, etc. etc. etc. 

And then be ready to adjust.  As I get older, I find that it is harder to get into the zone, and that I cannot maintain it as long (of course, the fact that I am in a position now where other people are calling and emailing me all the time, and my kids are texting several times a day, doesn't help).  So I have actually had to plan more downtime into my days, just to keep my energy reserves where I need them to be. 

And yeah, I struggle with the guilt of doing less, with the embarrassment of admitting that I cannot keep up with my former self.  But it's not going to do me any good in the end to keep denying what my body is telling me, you know?  I can rage, rage against the dying of the light all I want, but my brain is still going to waterbug away from my work if I try to force it to do too much.  Better to accept it and just deal with it.

[asauer]

Become aware of the thoughts you're resisting.  I know that sounds super woo woo but stay with me.  For example if I have a bunch of meetings that I think are meaningless I might spend time dreading them and thinking about how much I don't want to attend them.  This does use mental/ emotional energy.  So, I've changed my thought to "I've been directed to go, so let's see how I can add something or pick up something."  I've also changed my thoughts in this way around spending and housework.  It's helped to keep my emotional/ mental energy up.