Key Takeaways:
Time management focuses on scheduling fixed hours, while energy management addresses the quality of your presence and output
Understanding the seven energy levels helps you recognize when you need rest versus when you can perform optimally
Workplace burnout affects 40% of full-time workers and stems from depleting energy beyond sustainable levels
Simple practices like one-minute meditations and body scans can reset your energy between meetings
Leaders who create space for energy management enable more innovative and effective teams
The Hidden Dimension of Workplace Performance
While most professionals obsess over time management—scheduling every hour for maximum productivity—many overlook the critical dimension that determines the quality of their work: energy management.
In the third installment of our "Know Thyself" series, our CEO Ashish Kaushal spoke with Patrice Ford Lynn, Executive Coach and CEO of Catapult Change, about why managing your energy may be more important than managing your time.
Time vs. Energy: The Critical Distinction
"When we think about managing our time, that is very fixed—how many hours in the day, how do I schedule that time, what do I do with that time?" Patrice explained. "But it doesn't give us a sense of how well we're doing any of those things."
This quality dimension—how effectively we use our time—depends entirely on our energy levels:
"I know many of us have had something that we needed to do and we put it off and we put it off and we put it off. And when our energy was right and we were aligned, it took 10 minutes."
The difference between pushing through exhaustion versus working from a place of alignment can be dramatic. As Patrice noted, sometimes what looks like procrastination is actually a sign of "emotional dysregulation"—our body and mind telling us we need to reset before we can perform optimally.
The Seven Levels of Energy
Patrice outlined a framework from the book "Energy Leadership" that helps identify different energy states:
Catabolic (Energy-Draining) Levels:
Level 1: Very low energy, little initiative, possibly depression-like
Level 2: Frustrated, antagonistic energy that leaves you drained
Transitional Level:
3. Level 3: The bridge to choice—you've stabilized enough to make intentional decisions
Anabolic (Energy-Building) Levels:
4. Level 4: Stable but limited energy—able to listen but not fully engage
5. Level 5: Collaborative energy—present, engaged, and responsive
6. Level 6: Connected energy—feeling oneness with others (like at concerts)
7. Level 7: Source energy—found in deep meditation or prayer
Understanding these levels helps us recognize when our energy needs attention and what state might best serve the task at hand.
The Burnout Epidemic in Corporate America
When asked about the statistic that approximately 40% of full-time workers report burnout, Patrice offered a straightforward definition:
"The very colloquial definition that I will use for burnout is when we simply have exhausted our resources beyond our capacity... and now we cannot show up in the ways that we want."
Having experienced burnout herself, Patrice described how it can manifest physically through symptoms like insomnia, as the body becomes so "wired" that relaxation becomes impossible.
The workplace often exacerbates this problem: "We are taught to think about our time and our schedule and how we manage our deliverables, but not how we manage our energy."
Practical Strategies for Energy Management
Patricia shared several practical approaches to better energy management:
Set clear boundaries with energy-draining people: "Limit the amount of time I'm actually giving to this person... have really clear boundaries."
Maintain partial presence: "I can talk with someone where there's a part of me that I'm keeping for myself. So even though I'm present with you, I'm also present with myself."
One-minute meditations before meetings: "Before they step into a meeting, set a timer for a minute and just breathe, allow themselves to be deeply present and then think about what it is they really want from this meeting."
Body scanning: Starting at the top of your head and moving down to your toes, notice physical sensations and emotional responses in your body.
Intentional breathing: "If I need to build my energy, I breathe in more quickly. If I need to disperse my energy, I breathe out very long."
The Leadership Imperative
For leaders, energy management extends beyond personal effectiveness to organizational impact. As Patrice noted:
"Leaders who are really needing to be visionary—not folks who are just managing, but people who are trying to anticipate—need that time and space to think. And if you don't decompress, you're actually robbing your company of the potential it has to be great because you're always acting from a reactive space."
This perspective challenges the always-on, vacation-resistant approach many executives adopt. According to Patrice, even brief periods of intentional disconnection can generate significant returns in creativity and strategic clarity.
Balancing Work and Rest
Patrice emphasized that energy management isn't about constant productivity: "I am not about maximizing our productivity at all times of the day. I believe in rest. I believe there are times to work and there are times to play and there are times to rest."
The goal isn't perpetual motion but rather intentional presence. By developing awareness of our energy states, we can make choices that support sustainable performance rather than cycles of exhaustion and recovery.
Experience a Guided Body Scan
During the conversation, Patrice led a brief body scan meditation that offers a practical example of how to center your energy before important meetings or during transitions in your day. This simple practice helps:
Interrupt cycles of reactivity
Bring awareness to physical and emotional states
Reset the nervous system from fight-or-flight to calm presence
Create mental clarity for focused work
In just a few minutes, this practice can shift your energy state from depleted or scattered to centered and focused.
Watch the Full Conversation
For the complete discussion and to experience the guided body scan meditation, watch the full LinkedIn Live conversation.
Poll: What's Your Biggest Energy Challenge at Work?
Energy-draining meetings and interactions
Digital overload and constant notifications
Difficulty transitioning between tasks
Lack of adequate recovery time
Something else (share in comments)
Vote to see how your energy challenges compare with our community!
Want to go deeper?
For Teams: Consciously Unbiased offers workplace culture training that helps organizations create environments where sustainable energy management is possible.
For Leaders: Our Leadership Insider subscribers receive monthly deep dives on leadership practices including energy management, plus exclusive leadership roundtables with workplace experts.
This post is part of our "Know Thyself" special series on emotional intelligence. Subscribe to be notified when we publish our next installment on "Defense Mechanisms."
What practices help you manage your energy at work? Share in the comments below!
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