Do You Need to Focus or Harness Your Energy?

A colleague worries that his team wants to change too much about how they work, all at once. He said, “They have 47 ideas that they want to use, to change how they work.”

I said, “47 seems like a lot.”

He nodded. “I suspect there are 46 too many for now.”

After we both laughed, I asked, “You want them to focus on one thing. And then harness the entire team’s energy on that one thing?”

“Exactly.”

The same thing happens with each of us. Do not ask me how much writing I planned for this week. “Too much” is the only accurate answer. I need to focus and then harness my energy.

When we focus, we consciously choose two things:

1. What to do. That’s the focus.
2. What not to do. When we choose what not to do, we create space to focus.

When we harness our energy, we apply that energy to one specific idea or deliverable.

I have positive feelings when I focus on one thing at a time:

• An ability to finish what’s important to me.
• Lighter, because I know I’m working on what’s most important right now.
• Happier because I can see my progress.

Then, when I harness my energy, I often work in flow. The work might not be easy, but I can continue and complete it.

How can you decide where to focus? With questions, of course.

Define and Refine Your Focus

Consider these questions (adapted from Manage Your Project Portfolio):

1. What’s the one thing that might make the most impact on your work now? You might choose one change possibility, as my client did. For my work, I select the one thing that will make a difference. Sometimes I choose something for my clients. Other times, I choose for myself.
2. See if you need to collect intertwined work, such as my client’s dilemma? Review the delays. Maybe consider drawing a visualization of the system. I start with work that reduces or eliminates delays.
3. As a third alternative, ask yourself, “What will I learn the most from?” and focus on that.

Now you can focus. How can you harness—apply—your energy?

Harness Your Energy

I like to think about my energy in these three ways:

• Start-energy. I might not be excited about my workout. However, if I can start, I finish my workout.
• Maintain-energy. I tend to finish what I start as long as I can keep the task small. That means I can maintain my energy to write blog posts or these newsletters. What about longer projects, such as books? I need to break apart the work into smaller chunks that I can finish.
• Finish-energy. If I can finish a project by myself and in a short time, I have plenty of finishing energy. If I need more people? Or if the finishing takes longer than a few hours? I’m in trouble. I now make extensive checklists so I can finish work.

When I spoke with my client about the differences between focusing and harnessing energy, he smiled. “That’s it!” he said.

We agreed that maybe these ideas weren’t all he needed, but they were a good start.

The question this month is: Do you need to focus or harness your energy?

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