Techniques for Recharging During Long Projects

Here are 8 habits I rely on (and often suggest to others) to stay ambitious without burning out: 1️⃣ Give your ambition a time limit. Think of deep work like a meeting with your future self. Block 90 minutes early in the day, silence your phone, and go all in. When the time’s up, stop, even if you’re mid-flow. Boundaries build focus and prevent work from spilling into everything. 2️⃣ Have a “minimum viable evening.” Pick one thing that helps you unplug, cooking dinner, a walk at sunset, reading to your kid, and treat it like it’s non-negotiable. That one ritual signals the end of the workday and gives your brain a clear off-switch. 3️⃣ Check your energy, not just your to-do list. Every Friday, jot down which tasks gave you energy and which drained it. After a few weeks, you’ll see patterns. Start removing or outsourcing one draining task at a time. Over time, your schedule will start to feel less like a grind. 4️⃣ Stick to two big projects. If you’re wired to chase new ideas, this one’s hard, but worth it. Limit yourself to one main focus at work and one personal goal. Everything else goes into a “not now” list you revisit monthly. Less chaos, more progress. 5️⃣ Plan for lighter weeks. Athletes don’t train hard every day, and neither should we. Once a quarter, block a week with fewer meetings, more sleep, and no extra side projects. Building in rest makes you more resilient and keeps burnout at bay. 6️⃣ Move your body, clear your head. Doesn’t have to be fancy. A short workout, a run, yoga, anything that gets your heart rate up will help you reset and stay sharp. Exercise isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a focus tool. 7️⃣ Short naps, big reset. Around that post-lunch slump, a 10–20 minute nap can seriously recharge you, no grogginess, just a clean mental reboot. Set a timer, close your eyes, and treat it like hitting refresh. 8️⃣ Group your tasks by vibe. Instead of switching between totally different things all day, chunk your time into themes, meetings, deep work, admin, etc. Then batch similar tasks together. Your brain stays in one lane longer, which helps with momentum. Start small, try one of these this week. You don’t need to slow down your ambition to feel more in control.

🚀 Mastering Productivity: It's About Knowing Yourself and Leading Wisely We often hear about the "hustle culture"—pushing through long hours, constant grind, driven by the belief that more hours worked or being in a specific location equals more success. But true productivity and high performance are more about wisdom than sheer effort, although, yes, the amount of hours does matter. Here's how I guide myself and my teams toward peak efficiency: 1️⃣ Define Desired Outcomes: Clearly outline what you aim to achieve and in what time frames. Without a target, it's all just busy work. 2️⃣ Focus on Impact Over Activity: Measure success by results, not hours clocked at specific times. 3️⃣ Establish Your Operating Rhythm: Understand when and how you are most productive. This isn't about conforming to the standard nine-to-five; it's about finding your unique peak hours and when those take place. Knowing your operating rhythm and monitoring it lets you identify productivity triggers and even manipulate them to your advantage—but the key is first knowing yourself. This morning, after an early start at 6AM and several intense work sessions, my energy dipped sharply around 9:45AM. In traditional settings, I might have powered through to diminishing returns. Instead, I recognized my rhythm and chose a different path—I went for a walk with my kids. This is a picture of part of our 3/4 mile walk. We're staying at our mountain property, and the change of scenery and movement reignited my mental engines. Not only did this refresh me, but it also sparked a potentially great insight into a growth strategy we're developing to reach consumers. 🌿 Breaks as Strategic Tools: The prevailing hustle mantra overlooks the power of well-timed breaks and capitalizing on operating rhythms. 🕒 Personal Productivity Techniques: I vary my methods based on my needs—sometimes it's the Pomodoro method, other times I dive into hours of flow time, or use timers to force me to simply plow into a difficult project. Understanding and respecting my mental state and energy levels allows me to work smarter. 👤 Self-Leadership: Each of us has the responsibility to lead ourselves effectively. By understanding and harnessing our rhythms, we can improve not just our own productivity but set a powerful example for others. 👥 Leading Teams with Insight: When you're in a leadership position, it's your duty to help your team embrace these principles. It's not about enforcing a rigid work schedule but about encouraging an environment where results, productivity, and outcomes are understood.. ==> Reflect on this: How well do you know your productive rhythms? How do you manage these across your team? #Leadership #ProductivityTips #ServantLeadership #SelfManagement #TeamSuccess

Most high performers fall into the same trap early in their careers: believing the key to maximizing output is managing time right down to the last 15-minute slot on their calendar. That was my approach too, until I read The Power of Full Engagement. It shifted my perspective, and now I bring it up with pretty much anyone who will listen. An overarching theme? Stop managing time. Start managing energy. Quality work can happen at any time. Being in touch with your mental and physical energy will give you much more of an edge than color coordinating your calendar ever could. If you’ve got mental clarity and drive at 9pm, get after it! If you’re totally zapped at 1 o’clock, take a step back. “But Andrew, if my team is taking breaks in the middle of the day, how will we meet our goals?” Don’t think about it that way. Optimize for outcome. If someone on my team needs to take an hour during the day to recharge after a week of back-to-back meetings, they can! So much better than powering through at half-capacity, isn’t it? Burnout doesn’t stem from doing hard work. It comes from ignoring what your body and mind are telling you. We’re still pushing. We’re still aiming high. But I trust my team to know when they’re at their best — and those are the moments I want them working.