Speaker 1: Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
Speaker 1: performance through strong human relations, team building, and golajiving. This
Speaker 1: is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul Fellavledo.
Speaker 2: Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast.
Speaker 2: It's episode five thirty. Let me start with a simple truth.
Speaker 2: Not all hours are created equal. You've probably heard people
Speaker 2: say I'm a morning person or I work best at night,
Speaker 2: But how many leaders actually know when they perform at
Speaker 2: their best. I'm not talking about preference. I'm talking about
Speaker 2: peak energy. That window of time when your brain is sharp,
Speaker 2: your folks is locked in, and you're operating at your
Speaker 2: highest level. This is what I call your peak energy window.
Speaker 2: Every one of us has it. It's the period of
Speaker 2: the day where your most alert, most creative, and most
Speaker 2: capable of making high quality decisions. The challenge is most
Speaker 2: leaders never take the time to identify it. Instead, they
Speaker 2: run on autopilot, reacting to emails, meetings, and phone calls
Speaker 2: without ever aligning their toughest work with their best energy.
Speaker 2: So what do you say we change that today? Step one,
Speaker 2: track yourself for one week. This isn't about guesswork for
Speaker 2: one week. I want you to be intentional. Every two hours,
Speaker 2: write down how your energy feels on a scale from
Speaker 2: one to ten. Don't overthink it, just note the number.
Speaker 2: When are you sluggish, When are you dialed in and unstoppable?
Speaker 2: When does your creativity spike? And then by the end
Speaker 2: of the week you'll have a simple pattern. You'll start
Speaker 2: to see that certain times consistently fall in your high
Speaker 2: energy range. That's your window. Step two is protect that
Speaker 2: window once you find it, defend it like your job
Speaker 2: depends on it. Because it does. That's not the time
Speaker 2: for routine meetings or small tasks. That's your strategic time.
Speaker 2: That's when you work on the business, not in it.
Speaker 2: Use that block to do deep work planning, decision making,
Speaker 2: designing strategy, or thinking through people issues. And if someone
Speaker 2: tries to book a meeting in your peak window, politely
Speaker 2: move it. As a leader, your job isn't to be
Speaker 2: available all the time. It's to be effective at the
Speaker 2: right time. And then step three shift your routine around it.
Speaker 2: This is where most leaders fail. They discover their window,
Speaker 2: but never adapt their day to match it. If your
Speaker 2: peak energy hits between seven and ten am, that's when
Speaker 2: you should be doing your highest level thinking, push your
Speaker 2: email and calls to the afternoon. If you find your
Speaker 2: focus lights up around three pm, then plan your important
Speaker 2: projects then and use your mourning for easier administrative work.
Speaker 2: In other words, build your day around your energy, not
Speaker 2: your calendar. And step four be aware of the crash.
Speaker 2: Every peak has a valley. After your energy window closes,
Speaker 2: you'll hit a dip. That's natural. That's when you handle
Speaker 2: the simple stuff for applying to emails, checking tasks, follow
Speaker 2: up on small details. You don't need creativity or deep
Speaker 2: focus during that dip, just maintenance. The key is awareness.
Speaker 2: You're not lazy during that crash. Your body and brain
Speaker 2: are just naturally recharging. Instead of fighting it, work with it.
Speaker 2: Step five optimize your team. If you're leading a team,
Speaker 2: recognize that not everyone shares your same window. You might
Speaker 2: be firing on all cylinders at eight am while someone
Speaker 2: else doesn't hit stride until ten am. Don't assume your
Speaker 2: energy pattern is the standard. When you understand each person's window,
Speaker 2: you can assign tasks and schedule meetings in ways that
Speaker 2: bring out their best and ask them directly when do
Speaker 2: you feel most productive during the day, And you'll be
Speaker 2: surprised how many people have never been asked that question.
Speaker 2: This single adjustment can improve morale, engagement, and output across
Speaker 2: the board. Step six, Test and adjust Your window can
Speaker 2: change over time. Life events, health, age, sleep patterns can
Speaker 2: all shift it. Revisit this once every few months. Do
Speaker 2: another energy audit. Stay flexible. The goal isn't to find
Speaker 2: one perfect system, it's to stay aligned with who you
Speaker 2: are today. In step seven, create an energy ritual before
Speaker 2: your peak window begins. Create a small ritual that signals
Speaker 2: to your brain that it's time to go into high
Speaker 2: performance mode. That might mean pouring your favorite coffee, closing
Speaker 2: the door, putting on instrumental music, or opening a clean
Speaker 2: note pad. Over time, that ritual becomes a trigger for
Speaker 2: your brain to activate focus faster. So here's the challenge
Speaker 2: for this week. Track your energy every two hours for
Speaker 2: seven days. Identify your peak window, schedule your most important
Speaker 2: work inside of that window, and then guard it. Don't
Speaker 2: let distractions invade it. So when you align your leadership
Speaker 2: energy with your leadership priorities, you'll stop feeling like you're
Speaker 2: constantly behind. You'll notice that the same tasks take half
Speaker 2: the time and produce double the results. The best leaders
Speaker 2: don't just manage time. They manage energy. You have a window,
Speaker 2: find it, protect it, and build your leadership ship rhythm
Speaker 2: around it. This has been the seven minute Leadership Podcast
Speaker 2: and I thank you for listening.
Speaker 1: For more Paul Fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot
Speaker 1: com