Stop Managing Time, Start Managing Energy
- Lay Jordan
- 3 days ago
- 14 min read
You're exhausted, yet you can't seem to rest. Your mind races with everything you need to do, and despite working all day, you feel like you've accomplished nothing. Does this sound familiar?
Most of my life, I've been obsessed with time management. Maybe it stems from a deep internal wound about having to prove myself, to prove who I am versus who I am not. This led me down a rabbit hole of constantly trying to figure out how to make the most of time. Time anxiety ran rampant through my veins and dysregulated me to a point of chronic health issues.
A Little Atypical, Episode 58, focuses on energy management as the foundation that makes everything else possible. In that episode, I discuss energy management as one of my five centering categories, but you'll notice it's actually woven throughout nearly every topic I cover, from my morning routine choices to why I'm craving fall's structure.
I wanted to explore this concept more deeply because I believe it's one of the biggest shifts that can transform how we approach productivity and well-being. Before continuing, I highly recommend listening to the episode using one of the links below to get the full context and insights about energy management as an integrated lifestyle approach.
Episode No. 58
Where to listen:
Spotify Link
Apple Podcast Link
PodBean Link
However, something that I didn't get to directly cover in the episode is how energy management isn't just another productivity hack. It's a fundamental shift in how we understand our relationship with time itself. When we focus solely on time management, we're trying to optimize a fixed resource. But when we focus on energy management, we're working with something we can actually influence and replenish.
Why Energy Management Matters More Than Time Management
We've all heard the saying "everyone has the same 24 hours," but that phrase used to make me feel so much shame.
I remember the first time I really heard it, really let it sink in. I was scrolling through motivational content, probably looking for answers to why I felt so behind, and there it was:
"Beyoncé has the same 24 hours as you." The implication was clear: if you're not succeeding, it's because you're not trying hard enough.
But I was trying. I was trying so hard that I was barely functioning. I was struggling to have fun, take care of my health, maintain a romantic relationship, nurture friendships, and still pursue my goals. Every morning felt like drowning before I even started. I had to journal the same phrase three times ("everything will get done, everything will get done, everything will get done") just to calm the overwhelm enough to begin my day.
The truth is, yes, we all follow the same 24-hour time cycle. But how much a person can get done in a day is dependent on their energy, not their time. And I was running on empty.
Time is limited and ultimately a human construct. Energy, however, is the actual resource that determines what you can accomplish within those hours. Energy management looks different depending on whether you share responsibilities, whether you're a caretaker, whether you have enough money to delegate tasks, or whether you have chronic illness.
These factors don't change the clock, but they fundamentally change what's possible.
Time anxiety itself actually depletes energy, creating a vicious cycle where worry about productivity makes you less productive. The shift from "doing more" to "doing what matters with the energy you have" is what transforms your relationship with both time and accomplishment. Energy management is the foundation to effective time management.
So how do we actually manage our energy? I've found it helpful to break energy management down into three interconnected pillars: physical consumption (nutrition and hydration), sleep/rest, and consumption boundaries (screen time and information diet). Each pillar supports the others, and together they create a sustainable approach to maintaining and replenishing your energy. Let me walk you through what each of these pillars looks like and how they work together.
The Three Pillars of Energy Management
Energy management rests on three interconnected pillars: physical consumption (nutrition and hydration), sleep/rest, and consumption boundaries (screen time and information diet). Each pillar supports the others, and neglecting one will eventually undermine them all. When one pillar weakens, it creates a ripple effect that diminishes your overall capacity to function at your best.
Physical consumption isn't just about eating healthy foods. It's about fueling your body in a way that supports stable energy throughout the day. This means understanding how different foods affect your energy levels, mood, and ability to focus. It involves discovering your optimal meal timing and portion sizes that prevent crashes and keep you feeling balanced. The goal is to use what you ingest strategically to help you meet your goals and function well without the rollercoaster of energy spikes and crashes.
Sleep and rest go beyond just getting enough hours of sleep. They encompass all forms of recovery your body and mind need. Rest includes mental downtime where you're not processing information, breaks from stimulation that allow your nervous system to reset, and understanding your body's natural rhythms so you can work with them rather than against them. Quality rest also means recognizing that different people may need different sleep patterns, and what matters most is finding what allows your body to truly recover and recharge.
Consumption boundaries address the modern reality of information overload and digital fatigue that constantly drains our mental energy. This pillar is about being intentional with what you allow into your mental space, from social media feeds and news cycles to the content you engage with daily. It means recognizing that passive consumption can deplete your energy just as surely as physical exertion. By setting boundaries around what, when, and how much you consume digitally, you protect your mental bandwidth for what truly matters and prevent the exhaustion that comes from constant stimulation.
Now, let me show you what this looks like in practice through my personal experience. In 2023, I hit a rough patch that I am honestly still working on recovering from. But if one thing has changed for the better these last three years, it's my energy management.
How I Manage My Energy: Personal Strategies
Physical Consumption (Nutrition and Hydration)
This is the area I've been prioritizing most in my health journey because I feel like if I just get nutrition locked in, that would take away so much of my current struggles. In my personal experience, it's not just about the food (although it does play a part), but about emotional/stress management and skills: creating a budget to shop better, making cooking easy, and figuring out how to make it support your lifestyle and goals.
Many will see the skill part as overcomplicating, but let me tell you: the time I gained the most weight was in college because I was a commuter. For some people, the out-and-about lifestyle makes them healthier and eat less, but for me, it made it harder. I hate spending money on food that I could cook myself, and I like having control over how my food is made. When I don't eat when I need to, or I'm not fueling myself properly, I'm not able to be stable emotionally or physically.
These things create a feedback loop with food choices, and it does make nutrition harder to manage, especially because nutrition isn't something that was part of many people's upbringing. Many of us have to make an effort to learn this later in life.
Below, I'll be sharing what helps me most in this area, but the purpose isn't for you to do these exact actions. Rather, I want to show you the types of things I considered and how I arrived at my approach. I thought about meal timing, what a balanced plate looks like for me, and strategies to reduce decision fatigue and handle unpredictable days. Overall, what helped me most was making intentional decisions for my health and experimenting with different structures.
I feel like nutrition is so deeply personalized, and I'm nervous to share because people often label certain practices as diet culture or toxic. But for me, the structure I've set up is completely data-based and rooted in self-awareness. It isn't restricting; it's liberating. It always serves my best interest to make sure I'm not skipping meals or overindulging, because with food, I have always been all-or-nothing, and I worked so hard to unlearn that pattern.
These practices have given me enough energy to avoid headaches, mood swings, and constant backtracking. I feel proud of myself that I loved myself enough to work on myself this way.
What's helped me most:
Figuring out if small but frequent meals are better for me or if it's better to have 2 large meals with 0-1 snacks
Using the same plates/cups for certain foods (consistency reduces decision fatigue)
Half a plate of fruit or vegetables, 1/4 protein, 1/4 carbs (balanced meals without villainizing any food)
Having a meal cutoff time. This one may be controversial, but logically, if you're eating balanced meals at consistent times, most nights you don't necessarily feel hungry. This also helps prevent stomach aches in the morning.
Planning/prepping "in case of" meals. Sometimes, when you're still learning hunger cues, you may underestimate what you need during meal times and get hungry later, or you just had a busy day and can't eat like you used to. I have a list of things that aren't stomach-aching to have if I don't eat balanced enough, typically smoothies, yogurt, or something very soft. I used to always reach for cereal in big bowls, so this is more about having better options that allow you to reset for the next day better. When you have something too heavy, it may trigger the all-or-nothing mindset or the stop-start cycle.
When I do have food out, I portion it first so I can have more meals out of it rather than eating it in one sitting. I also tend to avoid foods that have to be eaten in one sitting. Then I pair it with a better option like lettuce, cabbage, or some type of frozen vegetable.
Sleep/Rest
This is my biggest struggle among the three pillars. Sleep has always been challenging for me, and it's taken a lot of experimentation to find what works.
Part of what made sleep so difficult was not understanding that there are different sleep patterns beyond the standard "8 hours straight" advice. Learning about phasic sleeping, where you sleep in multiple periods rather than one long stretch, has been eye-opening. Before this, I only knew about sleep chronotypes (like lion, bear, dolphin, and wolf), but understanding phasic sleeping helped me see that my body might naturally prefer a different sleep structure.
What's helped me most:
Learning about different phasic sleeping patterns (not just chronotypes)
Changing up my physical activity in ways that support better sleep
Scheduling time for no stimulation, either napping or just sitting in silence. That time is dedicated to either mental rest or physical rest, and I protect it
Consumption Boundaries (Screen Time, Information Diet)
This is a topic I see many people talking about because of doom scrolling and the rise of analog wellness. It's almost funny how we assumed that having information and entertainment instantly available would make our lives better, when it's actually become one of the main causes of modern stress. The news is always sad and catastrophic.
Everything is framed as urgent, demanding our immediate attention. And somehow, people feel entitled to our time and energy, expecting instant responses, constant availability, and perpetual engagement. The digital world offers infinite content, but our attention and mental energy are finite, and we're learning this lesson the hard way. This is why analog wellness (the intentional return to non-digital activities and offline experiences) has gained so much traction. People are rediscovering that activities like reading physical books, journaling with pen and paper, or engaging in hands-on hobbies provide a kind of restorative rest that screens simply cannot offer.
What's helped me most:
Schedule time to input negativity (news consumption) and negativity output (crashing out, complaining, crying, etc.). By containing these to specific times, they don't bleed into and drain my entire day
Create a hobby basket of non-screen activities. These are physical alternatives that are readily available when I need to step away from devices. I list a few ideas for hobbies in episode 76 of A Little Atypical, but examples include Sudoku and word searches
Build your own algorithm by creating a consumption list with links that you return to and only add to them during your reflection time. This prevents random scrolling and keeps your content diet intentional
Turn your consumption into something. For example, if you watch a video, create your own content about what you consumed. This transforms passive consumption into active engagement and learning
The Missing Piece: Prioritization
"Some people don't have a time issue. They have a prioritization issue."
This insight hit me during a walk while listening to someone discuss the difference between motivation and discipline in winter. It sparked a connection: prioritization isn't separate from energy management. It's central to it.
My own experience proves this. During the first week of my 12-week year, I struggled intensely. Week two felt dramatically different, yet nothing changed except one thing: I took time to map out everything I wanted to accomplish and received help setting daily priorities. That single shift made all the difference.
Prioritization has always been challenging for me. I'm detail-oriented, which serves me well in many ways, but I've struggled with it since school. For example, with note-taking: I struggled to determine what was important because my brain processes information differently. I notice and retain details that others might overlook or consider secondary. Even before learning formal annotation techniques, I'd end up with pages of notes because everything felt connected and relevant to understanding the bigger picture.
This is where understanding your patterns becomes essential. In Episode 58, I share a framework for tracking what depletes you versus what energizes you, plus the five key categories I use to structure my seasons without burning out. Knowing your patterns transforms prioritization from guesswork into strategy.
Here's why this matters. Effective energy management requires more than just implementing tactics within the three pillars. At its core, it depends on four fundamental capabilities:
The ability to prioritize what truly matters
Flexibility to adjust when something isn't working (avoiding the all-or-nothing trap of constantly restarting or taking actions too small to create real progress)
Attention to pacing, not just completion
Protected time for planning and reflection, so you're not making every decision in the moment under pressure
These capabilities work together to create sustainable energy management. For instance, good planning anticipates obstacles rather than treating them as failures. If I've scheduled recording time but construction noise makes it impossible, I don't abandon my plan entirely. Instead, I swap in an equivalent task: writing, editing previous work, or handling other creation tasks that don't require speaking. The key is maintaining momentum toward my goals even when circumstances shift.
Episode 58 offers a deeper dive into the framework I mentioned. It includes specific reflection questions for identifying your energy drains versus boosters, plus my hybrid seasonal planning approach that blends the "personal curriculum" trend with "the great lock in" movement. I break down my five categories in detail and reveal the morning routine structure that pulled me out of what I call my "uncertainty and crash/burn era."
Where to start?
If you're feeling overwhelmed by all these strategies, start with consumption boundaries. Reducing information overload and digital fatigue creates the mental space you need to address the other pillars effectively.
However, if you're experiencing severe physical symptoms or chronic exhaustion, nutrition or sleep might need to come first. Trust your body. Whichever pillar feels most urgent is usually where you'll see the fastest improvements.
A simple first step: build your own algorithm. Create a curated list of trusted content sources (like A Little Atypical, which offers positive, intentional content designed to support your growth) and only add to it during designated reflection time. This single practice can transform your relationship with digital consumption and free up energy for everything else.
If you're still unsure where to begin, Episode 58 includes five reflection questions that help you identify what to center in your next season. Sometimes the hardest part isn't doing the work. It's knowing which work actually matters for where you are right now.
Remember: you don't have a time problem. You have an energy management problem. And now you have the tools to address it.
Key Takeaways
Energy, not time, is your most valuable resource. Everyone has 24 hours, but not everyone has the same energy capacity. Time anxiety itself depletes energy, creating a cycle where worry about productivity makes you less productive. Shift from "doing more" to "doing what matters with the energy you have."
The three pillars work together as an interconnected system. Physical consumption (nutrition/hydration), sleep/rest, and consumption boundaries (screen time/information diet) aren't separate; they're interdependent. When one pillar weakens, it creates a ripple effect that diminishes your overall capacity. Strengthen one, and the others improve too.
Prioritization is the foundation of effective energy management. It's not enough to have energy; you must direct it toward what truly matters. This means identifying your energy drains versus boosters, making tweaks when strategies aren't working, focusing on pacing rather than perfection, and dedicating time for planning and reflection so you're not constantly deciding in the moment.
Energy management is deeply personal and requires experimentation. What works for someone else might not work for you. Your optimal meal timing, sleep patterns, digital boundaries, and productivity rhythms are unique to your body, circumstances, and life stage. The goal is to experiment intentionally, track what actually moves you toward your goals, and avoid the all-or-nothing cycle of constantly starting and stopping.
Start with consumption boundaries to create mental space. Reducing information overload and digital fatigue often creates the clarity needed to address the other pillars. Build your own algorithm by curating intentional content sources, schedule specific times for negativity input/output, create a hobby basket of offline activities, and turn passive consumption into active creation. This single practice can transform your relationship with energy.
Episode Description:
Navigating seasonal transitions? In this reflective episode, we'll explore together how to center yourself during life's changing seasons. Whether you're craving more structure after summer's chaos or seeking intentional living practices, join me as I share practical approaches that you can adapt to your own journey. Discover how to create personal systems that honor both productivity and well-being as we step into this new season together.
✨ Key Topics:
Why fall provides a natural return to structure and how that affects our well-being
My five-category approach to seasonal centering: Self-Nurture, Responsibility, Energy Management, Tracking, and Mood Management
How trends like "personal curriculum" and "the great lock-in" are shaping our approach to personal development
Practical journal prompts to help you determine what to center in your next season
Reflections on closing chapters and embracing new beginnings
🎯 Perfect for anyone seeking direction as summer winds down, feeling ready for more structure in their lives, or looking to approach the fall season with greater intention. Whether you're a routine enthusiast or someone who thrives in seasonal transitions, this episode offers thoughtful insights on how to honor what you need most in this new chapter.
Follow my socials
Tik Tok- @Simplylayxx
YouTube- @SimplyLayxx
Instagram- @Simplylayxx
Twitter- @Simplylayxx
Pinterest- @Simplylayxx
Check out my blog post www.SimplyLay.com
Music by Remil - Evening Tea - https://thmatc.co/?l=DFECB5D4
Section | Timestamp | Notes |
Summer Debrief & Fall Intentions | 00:00 |
|
Why Structure Makes All the Difference This Fall | 06:09 |
|
The 5-Category Framework for Intentional Living | 11:52 |
|
Closing Reflections: Embracing New Seasons and Trusting Your Intuition | 18:19 |
|