Everyone knows what it’s like to be left without energy and just looking at your mailbox where mails pile up to even more work. Some days you just can’t seem to find the button as there was not enough sleep, something bad just happened or you’re just trying to postpone a job you don’t like. Been there, done that.

No matter how much you like your job, these moments will come. As there can be many causes to this - some even outside of your control - it is more interesting to look at fixing this shortage of energy. Now I’m not a theory guy, I just know what works for me. To be honest, it took me quite a while to figure this out for myself. I do know that attempting to regain energy is very personal, but I hope some of my suggestions might help you out.

• When the energy is lacking and you have a bunch of e-mails to answer, just let them rest. When no critical issues are there to fix, close your e-mail client and just walk around the office. Get back and start something you do like, but never spend more than 1 hour on this. Returning quality e-mails will reduce the amount of e-mails you will get in time.
• Clean up your desk! I personally cannot work in a place where I can see all kinds of documents, unopened mail (paper) and magazines are lying around. This messes with your head everytime you turn towards it and will make you think of all those things you need to complete but aren’t doing. Some of you can also apply this to your computer desktop if you’re one of those who stores all his documents there :-)
• When there’s a task you are postponing (every month) plan it in and agree with yourself to finish it on the date you set. It will cause some resistance to start, but when you’re done you’ll feel a big relieve and will have boosted your energy for that day. Tasks like these are a major blocker for your creativity and efficiency as they will linger through your mind while postponing them.
• Batch tasks. You have calls to make with people you’ve never met before? Make your first call and then follow up with all other calls that are related. You have to make invoices? Then complete this run in one batch. Just group the tasks, as completing the first one is usually the hardest. Next to that you’ll be amazed how fast all these tasks can be completed when they are done in one run.

Then, there are some activities you’ll have to avoid at all costs when you have a lack of energy:

• Browsing on the internet without knowing what you’re looking for
• Reading news and sports articles, you’ll keep on going
• Staring at your computer screen
• Reply e-mails

I would love to hear about your own experiences and tips.