“There’s so much to do, and so little time,” says Connor Swenson, from the Partnerships team at Google for Entrepreneurs, as he explains how time is finite. There’s not a whole lot you can do about it in the office, except work more productively. As he tells the audience at TNW Conference: “I don’t have a magic life hack, but I do have some tips and tricks to boost your productivity. This is what we teach at Google.” So what did we learn from his talk?
Find more energy, not more time
Connor explains that we have four main kinds of energy: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. There are ways to find more energy in each type. For physical energy, sleep is a really important factor. Connor tells the audience that he turns off his laptop and phone at 10pm every night, to prepare his mind for sleep.
Emotional energy comes from having more ‘me’ time. Connor carves his out at lunch time, where he makes sure to sit down with his team every day to eat and discuss non-work things. “But it can be whenever works for you,” he says. “Whether it’s having breakfast with your family, or reading a book before bed.”
Mental energy is about ensuring that you don’t burn out mid-day. “Use your breaks wisely,” Connor advises. “Don’t just spend them scrolling through your phone. Go back to your four sources of energy, and try to replenish them.”
Finally, spiritual energy is about “aligning with the values you have,” Connor says. For him, it’s trying to help someone out every day. He jokes that it’s actually selfish, since he’s doing it to replenish energy.