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This One Is Renewable, This One Is Not

The Bible has a lot to say about time, and the general theme si that time is precious so don’t waste it. Time is the one resource that is not renewable. It is fixed. You can’t do anything to add a single second to the day. We all have 168 hours in a week.

However, energy is renewable. Many of us don’t use this to our benefit but rather just keep draining the tank until nothings left. It’s like squeezing an orange. The first squeeze and juice is flooding over our hands, but each successive squeeze yields smaller and smaller amounts of juice.

Don’t we treat ourselves to this same method? We think that to be more productive we need to work through lunch, work late, and take a few work things home with us. This is so counterintuitive to what we know to be true. The longer we work the lower our energy level and the lower our output.

Why not take some steps that can renew your energy level. In Michael Hyatt’s book “Free To Focus” he gives the best and most concise steps to renewing your energy level.

Sleep
Eat
Move
Connect
Play
Reflect
Unplug

Sleep

There is no debate among experts that 8-10 hours of sleep is necessary for you to be at your best. I certainly have been guilty of the “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” statement. Try this tip at night, turn off all your screens an hour before bedtime. Add some white noise and cut off the lights.

Eat

There isn’t anything we could do that makes a bigger impact on our energy that what we eat. Why do you think athletes are so careful about their diets? We often treat lunch and dinner breaks at work like an interruption to our productivity when they may have the most impact on it. Taking lunch, and with someone, can increase focus, add creativity to your workday. Do a little homework on nutrition and, oh yeah, don’t forget about drinks. Energy drinks don’t necessarily mean that you’re renewing your energy.

Exercise

Why do we often tell ourselves that we don’t have time for exercise? Exercise is an energy creator. How many times have you walked into the gym a little worn out only to leave ready to take on a new challenge? According to the American Heart Association, exercise can have the exact same benefits as most heart related drugs.

Connect

Who you spend time with can be a major energy drain or a boost in inspiration. You may not have control over all the connections in your life, but you can be intentional over many.

Play

I know from lots of personal experience that Royal Ranger Commanders love to play. Fun for its own sake. Add play time in your calendar or it will never find a place.

Reflect

You need time in your week to take stock. See how you made out on your goals and relationships. Large gaps between reflection times yields a dilution of what you think your succeeding at and can be deadly on your relationships.

Unplug

I needed to pick up some clay in St. Pete Saturday morning. The warehouse is just 5 miles from the beach. Kala and I packed a small cooler, beach umbrella, and chairs and took off. Once we pickup up the clay we enjoyed several hours of just being unplugged in one of God’s most majestic views. I can’t tell you how much it renewed our minds our bodies and our hearts.

All of these things are usually the margin activities that we steel from to add time to our “work” with the expectation that it will make us more productive.

GOD’S HOME (Power Point 3) Exercise