The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal

If you feel like you're not enjoying all life has to offer, than get this book.

This book explains how managing your energy, not your time, is far more productive.

Focusing on the 4 elements of power usage/renewal (spiritual, mental, physical and emotional) can help you become a more productive professional, no matter your field. The idea of renewal, that we all need pause, from micro pauses (taking a deep breath and closing your eyes), to sustained removals (two-week hiking trip for example), is one you don't hear about much. Far more often (managers in particular) people tend to think you need to work long hours almost as if it were a badge of honor to work more than the person in the cube next to you. This is a myth, the most successful people are the ones who bring high energy to their work - not the most hours. Renewal, and recharging, are the keys to keeping a healthy level of productivity.

Time is NOT money; this old saying was from our parents generation. It is wrong through and through. Focusing on your energy, and how and when you use it, will provide far more success and productivity. This book tells you how to do it and for this reason I highly recommend this book.

I originally purchased this book a few years ago and never read past the first chapter. Earlier this year, I found myself on the brink of a serious work burnout and picked it up to read again. It is amazing! While the basic philosophy behind this book is not new (life balance) the way it is framed is. I love all of the case studies--they demonstrated how burnout and under/overtraining in one or more of the four areas (physical, mental, emotional, spriritual) manifests itself in our daily lives.

In order to turn things around, the authors suggest developing "rituals" around changes that one wishes to make in order to make them a part of lives. I have found these to be particularly helpful--even suggestions that I've heard a thousand times before--when I actually do it, the results are amazing. For example, it suggests that one make an "appointment" for exercise and put it in your calendar, treating it as you would any other appointment. Now, at the beginning of every week, I look at my calendar and put in times for exercise and meditation--the two areas I was seriously undertraining in. I find myself actually adhereing to the schedule more often, and looking forward to those time.

All in all--I think this is a great read with really helpful, down to earth suggestions to help one be fully engaged.

This book introduces a totally new concept for most of us. While we have always viewed time as being a very valuable resource, I think we have overlooked the concept of energy as a resource we can manage. The authors put forth the arugment that what we really need to manage is our energy, more so than our time.

They further state that there are natural cycles of expending and recovering energy. We are all very good at expending energy, but very few have any specific techniques for recovery. Like anything else in life, if we are going do it effectively, we need to create habits and aid in the recovery of energy. The authors call it rituals. We need to work riturals into our daily routines so we automatically take breaks that aid in the recovery of energy.

While we all think of physical energy, there are other areas of our lives where we need to manage the energy: the emotional, mental and spiritual.

As I said the concept is new for most of us, but it has actually been around for some time. Leonardo da Vinci said, "The greatest geniuses sometimes accomplish more when they work less. It is a very good plan every now and then to go way and have a little relaxation. ... When you come back to the work your judgment will be surer, since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose the power of judgment."

There is also a significant discussion about intrinsic purpose. "Nowhere are the limits of an external source of purpose so clear as with money. While money serves as a primary source of motivation and an ongoing preoccuptaion for many of us, researchers have found almost no corelation between income levels and happiness. ... Between 1957 and 1990, per person income in the US doubled. Not only did people's reported levels of happiness fail to increase at all during the same period, but the rates of depression grew nearly tenfold. The incidence of divorce, suicide, alcoholism and drug abuse also rose dramatically."

They further write, "The point is that we feel more passion for and derive more pleasure from doing what we freely choose and most enjoy."

The book is well written, with plenty of examples. I highly recommend it.

I'm a huge fan of this book. Granted, I'm the type A, corporate athlete that the book is aimed at. And I was focused on outworking the competition and drove my teams to put in more hours than the teams we are competing with. This book made me see things very differently. It gave me an opportunity to find a way more balanced life and I'm convinced I'm much better at what I do because of the book.

I was pretty surprised by some of the other reviews. While a lot of people appreciated this book as much as I did, it seems that those who have read a lot of self help books were less impressed. To be candid, I don't read many self help books and can't comment from that perspective. But if you are burning the candle at both ends and wondering if there might be a better way, this book offers a real solution and the authors back their prescription with data I found quite compelling.

I've given this book as a gift more than a dozen times. And more than half those people told me it changed their lives in a dramatic way. The book takes about two hours to read cover-to-cover and you will know in 30 minutes if this is going to change your life or not. On a risk/return basis, I can't imagine a more attractive investment opportunity...

PS. My sister is a writer in NYC and couldn't be further from a corporate athlete...and she loved the book as well. It didn't change her life like it changed mine, but she was able to gain real value from the book.