Ever feel that despite your best intentions and efforts, your productivity just can't live up to what you want it to be? Maybe it's not a time management problem but an energy management problem. As productivity expert Scott H. Young says:

My first mistake was that I didn't truly understand that energy management, unlike time management, is a cyclical process, not a linear one. Time management, being linear, is simply the process of organizing and prioritizing your day so that you can get the more value in a shorter unit of time. In other words, your goal with time management is to effectively compress, organize and prioritize activities for maximum efficiency.

Energy management doesn't work that way. Energy works in a similar system as a currency like money. In other words, after you've spent it, you need to regain some more before you try to spend again. Otherwise you end up going into a deficit. Energy deficits aren't pretty. You know you are in an energy deficit when you are tired, irritable, stressed, frustrated and generally unenthusiastic. Ultimately a check and balance must be made. When your body, mind, emotions and spirit finally declare bankruptcy, you crash and burn out as the eventual price of poor energy management is.

Read more here from Scott on how to make your body obey your brain and vice versa.