Today, I wanted to talk to you briefly about your ‘energy barometer’.
‘What the heck is an energy barometer?’ I hear you cry!!
Well, it’s just my way of keeping tabs on my own energy levels. I thought it might be useful to share it with you.
At the grand age I am, I have finally come to the realisation that energy levels are really important in terms of productivity, and getting things done and feeling good about yourself, generally.
I have also become more adept at engaging in activities that will help to improve my energy levels and let’s face it, life is pretty tough right now. I don’t know about you but I find the older I get the more difficulties there are in life. It can be a real constant battle sometimes to keep the energy levels up.
Being aware of them, and being engaged in that battle, for me, are really important because once you start to shift down the spectrum towards the lower end, the lower you go, the harder it becomes to pick yourself back up.
O.K. so, look, every day when we wake up, we wake up in different states of positivity or negativity, depending on a whole host of issues that are going on. Work life, home life, physical health, mental health, whether we’ve had alcohol, whether we’ve lived on a diet of pot noodle for the past two weeks. Loads of different elements affect the way that we feel emotionally in our energy levels.
So, what I like to try and do is to give myself a rough assessment each day. And it may not be as strict as that, it might not be a daily activity. The important thing for me is to get a handle on my energy state, a deliberate awareness if you like. I find that keeping an eye on my energy will mean that I have more opportunity to stop myself from sliding down, because I will recognise the signs of that downwards drift a bit more quickly.
Now, I know that there are plenty of medical tools and nursing tools. This is not an evidence based depression risk score, just to be clear on that. What I like to use is a simple self reflection score, it does the job perfectly and requires minimal brain power (I can save that for my patients!).
So, here we go. Starting at number 10, we have awesome!!!! Number 10 is like jumping up and down with joy, barely containable.
Number nine is very similar, just a little bit, just a tad lower, but almost the same.
Number eight, I am feeling great, nothing can knock me down.
Seven, yup I’m good, but I could be knocked down.
Number six is hell. It’s what I call hell. I’m comfortable, I’m surviving, living in a world of tick, tock. Same old day in, day out, I feel flat.
Five is danger. Now, I am starting to enter an area where I can go down really easily, so this is not good. Four – depressed.
Three – depressed and in need of help.
Two – depressed, but don’t want help.
Number one – depressed, in need of help, but don’t want it & now nobody even wants to give it.
Zero is beyond help.
So, what I want you to do now is to have a think right now, right where you are now in this current moment in the day, in this current point in your life, current point in the week, where is your energy barometer? Are you jumping up and down, whooping for joy, with a number 10, awesome? Or just very slightly underneath that similar at number nine? Are you eight? You’re feeling great and there’s nothing that’s going to knock you down. Are you seven? You’re good, but you could be knocked down. Are you six? You’re just flat as a pancake. You’re just doing your normal do, and not feeling engaged really in anything.
Are you in that danger area of number five? You can go down easily, you’re susceptible. Are you depressed at number four? Are you depressed at number three, and you need some help? Are you depressed at number two? You need some help, but you don’t even want it. Or are you, number one? You’re depressed, you need help, you don’t want it, and you’ve managed to push everyone away, so they don’t even want to give it to you. Or are you zero, beyond help?
So, once you’ve had a think about where your energy levels are at right now, I want you to ask yourself a question, where do you think should be the cut off point for you, where you start to actively, deliberately and purposefully engage in energy raising activities?
We don’t want to go down as low as five in my view because then you’re easily slipping down to a four. Six sounds pretty awful, and we’ve all been there. I know I’ve been there. Tick tock, same shit, different day, no reaction to anything. So, for me, I want to really go for a minimum of seven.
Now, that’s a slightly dangerous area and, ideally, I want to be above that. But as soon as I drop down to a seven, where I know I’m aware that I can drop down even further, then I’m going to start really implementing whatever those energy giving strategies are.
What are your energy giving strategies? For me exercise tends to be the thing that really helps to lift my mood and energy. The easy option for me can be to have a few glasses of wine in the evening. That gives me that nice, warm, fuzzy feeling. But I’ll tell you what it also does, it gives me that drained, groggy, miserable, moody feeling in the morning. So I have learned that that is really not the key for me.
Maybe you like to pick up a book, have a good read. Maybe you like to take a nice bath. Maybe you want to get on the phone, have a chat with your best mate. Whatever it is, the better you are at identifying those activities that give you energy, the better you can actively manage your energy levels. The better you can manage your energy levels, the happier you are going to feel, the more productive you are going to be, the better your outlook will be. All of this will increase your chances of success in whatever it is that you’re trying to do.
- Check out your own energy barometer, assess where you are right now.
- Assess what is the lowest point you really want to allow yourself to get to before you do something about it.
- Going forward, really try and engage in your awareness of that energy. It is entirely your responsibility and when you feel those numbers starting to drop – do something about it.
ENERGY BAROMETER ?
| 10 | Awesome!!!! |
| 9 | Slightly under awesome |
| 8 | I feel great |
| 7 | Good but could be knocked down |
| 6 | Flat |
| 5 | Danger! |
| 4 | Depressed |
| 3 | Depressed & in need of help |
| 2 | Depressed & in need of help but don’t want help |
| 1 | Depressed & in need of help but don’t want it & no one wants to give it |
| 0 | Beyond help |