Time Management Isn’t About Time, It’s About Energy

We’ve all heard the phrase “You have the same 24 hours as Beyoncé.” While it sounds empowering, it’s also misleading. Because the real key to productivity isn’t just time—it’s energy.You can have an entire free day and still accomplish nothing if you're mentally or emotionally drained. On the other hand, a focused 90 minutes of high energy can produce more than an entire exhausted afternoon.

So, what does it mean to manage your energy instead of your time? Let’s break it down.Think of your energy as a battery. Every task, conversation, decision, and even thought consumes a little bit of it.
• Some activities recharge you (a good walk, creative work, laughter).
• Others drain you (meetings, scrolling endlessly, multitasking).

If you're only looking at your calendar and not your energy levels, you're planning for availability, not performance.We don’t need more hours. We need better use of the energy we already have.When you start managing energy, not just time, you’ll stop chasing productivity hacks and start actually feeling productive.Instead of always asking, “Do I have time for this?” a better question is, “Do I have the energy for this?” That small shift in thinking changes how you plan your day. It helps you match your tasks to the times when you're naturally more energized. For example, if you’re most focused in the morning, that’s the time to tackle creative or strategic work not to check emails or sit in meetings. Use the afternoon slump for admin tasks or collaborative work, and reserve evenings for lighter activities, reflection, or rest.Managing energy means being aware of when you’re at your best and organizing your life around those rhythms not pushing through on empty. It also means taking breaks that actually restore you, rather than filling every gap with distractions. When you make this shift, you’ll stop glorifying busyness and start recognizing that real productivity comes from working with your energy not against it.In the end, you don’t need more hours in the day you just need to use your existing hours more wisely, based on how you feel and what fuels you. When you start managing energy instead of just time, you’ll discover that you get more done with less stress—and start enjoying the process a lot more too.