Managing your energy when dealing with others.

We have to interact with others. It’s a fact of life. Whether it’s work, school, family or the community at large, we have to do it – even when we don’t like it.

There are people who fuel you, giving you energy and instilling a feeling of euphoria that finds you motivated and inspired.

There are others who drain you, depleting your energy reserves and leaving you exhausted, running on empty.

Then there are those who are steady and calm, no highs or lows. No inspiration or depletion. They just are who they are.

So how can we effectively manage our day when having to deal with a variety of personality types and moods?

Organizing your day can be like creating a recipe to make the ideal meal. A touch of this, a dash of that. Heavy on one ingredient, light on another. When all is cooked, it’s just right.

How does that analogy work in life?

When orchestrating your schedule, people are the ingredients in any day. Aim to manage your energy by knowing which personalities fuel you, and which deplete you – then balance accordingly, sandwiching the energy zappers in between the motivators with a mix of the steady and calm ones in between.

We can’t run away from these people, so we need to take charge of our day and learn how to manage our energy accordingly.

This won’t always be possible. We have no control over the strangers we will encounter during a day, however, we can take as much action as possible to ensure our reactions are rational and reasonable.

Not an easy feat.

Whether it’s people or activities, pay attention to what gives you energy, and what takes it away. Once you recognize this and start to make changes to the things within your control, you will be on your way to creating a more fulfilling life – and experiencing less stressful days.